The Price of Freedom
by cowg9997
Summary: Alexandra Hayes: escaped the Red Room with the help of Clint and Natasha, became a shield agent, and it the newest member of the Avengers. When Steve starts to take a major liking to her she thinks her life is turning around but when her past comes back to haunt her can she let him and everyone else in or will she shut them out. Can they save her before its too late?
1. Chapter 1

Today's the day, today's the day I get moved up to the Avengers. I never thought I would be good enough for it but Fury wanted me moved so here I am about to go over to the tower to meet everyone, besides Clint and Tasha that is. I'm familiar with everyone except Thor but I haven't actually had conversations with the four super heroes. I'm sitting in my kitchen eating breakfast when I hear a knock on the door.

"Coming!"

I open the door to see Clint and Natasha. "You ready?" Ask Natasha.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I say grabbing my bag and locking the door behind me.

"Your beyond ready for this." Says Clint.

"Just ignore Tony's comments and you'll be fine." Says Natasha.

The three of us get into the car and to my surprise Fury is in there.

"Sir"

"Agent Hayes".

That's all that is said on the way to the tower. When we get there the four of us get out of the car and get into the elevator taking us to the top floor. When the door opens the rest of the team is there along with another women who I believe is Pepper Potts.

"Alright everyone this is Agent Alex Hayes, the new addition to the team. Play nice." Says Fury turning to leave.

"I'm going to pretend that wasn't for me." Yells Tony walking towards us. "Tony Stark, nice to meet you." He says winking at me.

"Nice to meet you." Everyone else has joined us by this time.

"Bruce Banner, hopefully you won't meet the other guy for a while." Says Bruce shaking my hand.

"Hello Lady Alex, it's a pleasure to meet you." Says Thor hugging me.

"Thor careful she just got here." Laughs Clint.

Thor sets me down and Steve comes and shakes my hand. "Steve Rogers, nice to meet you. I've seen around before, you may have been on a mission with me."

"Yeah I think one or two, nice to finally meet you." I smile.

I meet Pepper and know we are going to be great friends and after that I get a tour of the different floors. I am tell the gym is going to be my favorite. Don't get me wrong I love using a gun just about as much as Natasha but there is nothing like hand to hand combat. The last floor we go to looks brand new.

"This is your floor." Says Tony.

"Really?"

"Yup, we can have some people bring your stuff over as soon as possible. A team that lives together stays together." He laughs.

"Thanks." I say.

"Well we will let you have a look around, we will be down on the community floor if you need anything." Says Pepper.

Everyone leaves and I go to the kitchen first. The fridge is fully stocked and so is the pantry. I go to the bedroom next and see a queen size bed with a desk and a connecting bathroom. It's a big room with a window to ceiling window over looking the city. The bathroom is big as well. The next door I open I see is an extra room and the one after that is a small gym with a punching bag and a few other things, perfect. I go back into the kitchen to find Natasha getting off the elevator.

"What do you think?" She ask.

"It's great." I say smiling.

"And the team..."

"They all seem great, I can see why you guys like them so much."

"Mhm, Steve seemed to like you." She smirks.

"What do you mean?" I say getting a drink out of the fridge.

"He started fumbling over his words a few minutes ago when we were talking about you, all good things by the way. He only does that when he thinks a girl is cute. I should have known he would take a liking to you."

"There's no way." I say.

"Don't doubt yourself Alex."

"I've got too much blood on my hands."

"So do Clint and I but that doesn't mean we love each other any less." She pauses. "Clint get out of the vents."

"Dammit Nat, how'd you know." He says opening it and climbing down.

"I just know." She says standing on her toes and kissing his cheek.

"Nat's right you know." He says.

" Well once he knows what's on my ledger that's going to scare him off."

"You think what you want to but I disagree, now let's go they want to see what you can do." Says Natasha.

After going a few rounds with Natasha and Clint the boys are impressed. I started out in the Red Room with Natasha, she and Clint came back for me a year after Natasha found him. The two of us are like sisters. She brought me back to S.H.I.E.L.D and helped train me along with Agent Coulson and Agent Hill. My choice to join them was easy to make. I could either join them or be hunted by them. With all the red on my ledger I needed to do some good to cancel it out.

After I'm done we all go up to eat dinner. We are all sitting around in the living room and it's pretty fun, until Tony ask the worst question possible.

"So how do you know our two favorite assassins?"

"Uh..."

"You don't have to answer." Says Natasha glaring at him.

"If you really want to know, Natasha saved me from the Red Room after she got out, Clint was with her and I've been with them ever since."

"So that's why you're such a great fighter." Says Tony.

"They have done nothing for me except rip away everything I ever had. Their so called training made me kill innocent people. I wanted no part in that but when people brainwash you, you don't get a choice."

"Tony." Groans Clint.

"You moron." Says Natasha.

I grab my beer and stand up to go outside and get some air to calm down. I walk over past the pool over to the railing and look out over the city and take a deep breath. Five minutes later I hear the door open and I look back to see Steve walking over towards me.

"Sorry about Tony, he doesn't know boundaries sometimes." He says.

"It's fine, if I didn't tell him I figured he would snoop anyway plus it's good to talk about it I guess. It gets easier every time."

"That's a nice way of looking at it." He says smiling at me.

"Gotta be positive sometimes." I say taking another sip of my beer.

"How long where you in there, if you don't mind me asking."

"I was five when they took me so...twenty years. Natasha is the only reason I survived."

"That seems to be a recurring theme on this team." Laughs Steve.

"Never underestimate her." I laugh.

"From the looks of it the same could be said for you."

"Trained by the best...Shield that is."

"Paid off." He says.

We stand there a little while longer and then I decide to go in.

"Night Steve." I say walking to the door.

"Night." He says opening it for me.

Clint and Natasha are the only ones in the living room when we walk in there. I go and sit next to Nat and Steve goes to leave.

"See ya in the morning for workout." Says Natasha.

"Yup, night guys." He says walking out. Both Clint and Natasha look at me.

"Told you." Says Natasha.

"Yeah whatever." I laugh.

"You training with us in the morning?" Ask Clint.

"Sure, sounds fun." I say standing up. "I'm headed to bed, see you guys in the morning."

I take the elevator up to my floor and once I get up there I turn the lights off, shower, hide my gun under my pillow, and go to bed.

Steve's POV

The next morning I'm the first one in the gym so I get started on a punching bag. Natasha, Clint, and Alex walk in at the same time and we get started. Alex, she seems like a great girl. I seem to get nervous every time I'm around her. I will admit I think she is cute but I don't want to scare her off.

Clint and Alex fight first and then Natasha and I go. When that's done Alex looks at me.

"You and me Cap."

"You sure?" I ask smirking.

"Let's go." She laughs.

"Alright."

In the end she actually ends up getting me.

"You were saying?"

"You put up quiet the fight, nice job."

"Thank you, you're not too bad yourself." She says getting off me.

She winks at me before walking away. I get up so that Clint and Natasha can go and after that we go up for breakfast. When we walk in the kitchen everyone else is there and we all sit down after grabbing some food.

"Alex I would like to apologize for my behavior last night." says Tony quietly.

"I'm sorry could you say that again, I don't think I heard you." she laughs.

"I'm sorry." he says again.

"That wasn't so hard now was it." says Pepper kissing his cheek.

"Shut up."

Just then Natasha's phone rings and she gets up from the table. Ten minutes later she comes back and looks at us.

"Clint, Alex, and Cap suit up. We are being sent to Germany. Details are waiting for us at head quarters, we should be gone a week."

"Aw no fun I want to go." says Tony.

"Get a job at Shield and you can." says Alex.

"Pack up and meet in the lobby in 10." Says Natasha rolling her eyes at Tony.

"Be safe guys." says Bruce looking up from his work for a split second.

I take the elevator up to my floor and throw some stuff in a bag before grabbing my uniform and shield and heading downstairs. The other three are already down there

so once I arrive we get in the car. Once at headquarters Fury gives us the low down.

"There is some small Hydra activity going on in Germany. I want you four to go down there and take care of it. Alex, you'll be posing as a lab tech in their lab, do you think you can do that?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good, I want the rest of you covering her tail, get as much info as you can. I want minimal damage done and I want you in and out."

"Is it just the lab we are taking care of?" I ask.

"Yes, I don't care what you need to do just take care of it. If that's all I will let you go." says Fury leaving the room.

"You guys ready?" ask Clint.

"Let's do this." I say

The four of us load up on the quinjet and buckle in before Clint and Tasha get us in the air. This mission could go either way, lets just hope it's the better turn out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Alex's POV

Once we get to the safe house we get out stuff and then sit down in the living room to plane everything out.

"Alright so tomorrow the three of us are going to be watching from across the street. You need anything you let us know." says Natasha.

"Got it, Im going to try hacking into their systems too, see what it leads to."

"Can you do that without drawing attention?" ask Steve.

"Of course. I could do it right now if I wanted to but it would be faster from the inside."

"A girl of many talents." he says. Clint and Natasha smirk and I glare at them.

"I think we should leave here by 0630 tomorrow, everyone okay with that?" ask Clint.

We all nod our heads "Alright, lets get everything ready then."

The four of us get up and I head to my room. I get all my tech stuff out and then lay out my guns so I can clean them. I sit down on the floor and get to work. About halfway through Steve knocks on the door.

"Hey, come on in." I say smiling at him.

He sits down on the floor across from me. "I see you don't travel light." he laughs.

"Gotta be prepared for anything." I say putting one of them back together.

"You ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, who doesn't love going straight into the arms of the enemy." I laugh.

"You'll be fine, you can handle yourself."

"Hydra just rubs me the wrong way."

"Rightfully so." he laughs.

"You would know."

"Yeah." he says smiling at me.

We sit there talking a little longer before we decide to both go to bed. The next morning I get dressed, strap a gun to my leg, put my com link in and head out to the kitchen.

"You ready?" ask Natasha.

"Yup, you guys got me covered?"

"Of course. We have to go, what is taking them so long."

"Clint, Steve let's go." I yell over my shoulder.

"Coming." yells Clint.

"What's the problem?." ask Steve.

I turn around to look at him and I'm not going to lie, he looks good in his uniform. I hear Natasha snicker behind me and I realize I still have to answer.

"Oh...uh.. we just need to go." I stutter.

"Alright lets go." says Clint pulling his quiver over his shoulder and walking out the door.

Once we get to the place they are dropping me off I pause a second before getting out.

"I know Fury said a week but I think this should only take a few days." I say.

"Whatever you think, you know what you're doing so we are going to follow your lead." says Clint.

"Do you have everything?" Ask Natasha.

"Yup, com link is up and running too."

"Gun?"

"Two of them."

"Two?" Clint.

"Yes two birdbrain, you should know by now that I like to be prepared." I laugh.

He roles his eyes at me "Alright time to go." he says.

As I'm getting out Steve looks at me "Be careful, they don't go easy."

"Always am." I wink at him before closing the door and making my way into the building.

The day goes smoothly, they assume I'm just some computer analyst and I get access to everything. I load stuff on to my flash drive and go to a few meetings that make me want to take my gun out and shoot everyone but i don't, Clint, Nat, and Steve entertain me.

"Do they ever shut up?" I hear Clint ask.

"Clint don't talk to her when she can't respond." scolds Natasha.

He stops talking. "Clint you're whipped." laughs Steve.

"Yeah and one day you will be too."

When the day is over I walk a few blocks to the van and once I get in Clint starts driving.

"How was it?" ask Natasha.

"I have some stuff I need to look over when we get back but it was good. I am literally being handed everything on a silver platter."

"It's too easy." says Steve.

" They are too stupid to realize anything yet." I say back.

"Just watch your back tomorrow." says Clint.

Once we get back Clint and Natasha start on dinner while Steve goes to change and I look over everything. Fifteen minutes after we get back Steve walks by my room.

"Steve."

"Yeah?"

"I need another pair of eyes to look this over with me, want to help?"

"Sure."

He brings in a chair and sits down right next to me.

"What are you looking for?"

"These accident reports from test subjects, they aren't lining up. These injuries and deaths should not have been caused by what they were doing."

"Let me see." he says brining his hand to the mouse.

Our hands touch and they stay that way for a minute. We look at each other and then at the same time we both pull away at the same time.

"Sorry." he whispers.

"No, it's fine." I say smiling at him.

We look at each other for a minute and before either one of us knows whats happening we kiss. After a minute we both break apart and he apologizes.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that...I just...I really like you and I know I have only known you a few days but you are an amazing girl and..."

I shut him up with another kiss. "Don't apologize I say." smiling at him.

"Wait, that didn't bother you?"

"Not one bit."

"I just thought you know since I have only known you a few days..."

"I like you too." I whisper.

"Wait really?"

"Yeah, your a good guy Steve, why wouldn't I. Plus not going to lie the uniform looks good on you Cap." I laugh.

"Mhm I noticed that save or yours this morning." he laughs.

"We don't need to talk about that." I say blushing.

We sit there for a minute before he speaks up again. "Are you serious about this?"

"Only if you are." I say.

"Of course I am."

We look at each other again until I hear Natasha clear her throat.

"Hate to interrupt whatever this is but dinner is ready."

"Be right out." I say quickly.

"Alright." she says walking away.

"Can we talk about this later?" I ask.

"Of course, I'll even help you go through all this while we do it." He says.

"Okay, thanks."

"No problem."

We walk into the kitchen to see Nat and Clint already eating, Clint looks pissed.

"What's your problem grumpy pants?" I ask.

"You cost me $25, you couldn't wait a few more days?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask sitting down.

"Oh you know what I'm talking about." he glares at me.

"Oh leave her alone." says Natasha. " I warned him."

"Why were you betting on that?" Ask Steve.

"Tony started it." said Clint like a five year old.

"What were you betting on?" I ask for the millionth time.

"We were betting on how long it would take you two to get together."

"Of course you were." says Steve.

We talk about what needs to get done tomorrow after that and when I'm done I head back to my room to look through more files. Steve follows me back to my room and talks to me while I review files.

"How long have you been working for shield?" he ask.

"Almost five years."

"Wow, do you ever get sick of it?"

"I do and then I remember that I'm helping people so I guess it cancels out."

"It's why I joined, to help people. I woke up after being frozen for 70 years and I had no idea what to do with myself until Fury approached me."

"It must have been weird, waking up after all that time."

"It was in the beginning, It's getting easier."

"In what way?"

"I'm getting used to everything, the new technology, the way people live."

"I would completely shut down if that happened to me."

"Everyone has their own battles."

"I guess your right." I say smiling at him.

"Are you from Russia?" he ask.

"Yeah, born and 'raised' there. I cover up the accent though, just like Nat."

"So you speak Russian?"

"And spanish, french, and a bit of mandarin. I'm not very good though."

"Wow, talented, sweet, and pretty." he whispers.

I smile at him "You're too sweet."

"It's true." he says moving closer to me.

"The same could be said for you, minus the pretty. I would say handsome." I say moving my face closer to his.

" Why thank you." he says before kissing me.

The kiss feels electric, I have never felt this way before. He makes me feel happy, like I have a purpose, like I'm a good person. When we break apart he looks at me.

"I guess we should go to bed."

"Yeah, goodnight Steve." I say as he gets up.

"Night Alex."

The next day things are going pretty well up until an hour before I'm supposed to leave. I'm working on the computer when I hear Steve's voice over the com.

"Alex you need to get out, they know."

"I'm almost done I need two seconds, can you guys hold them off?"

"We can try." says Nat.

Two minutes later alarms start going off and I know it's time to go. I destroy the computer and do the same to others that I pass, I want their data gone. I run into the hallway and pull one of my guns out. I run into Steve.

"You okay?" he ask as we hurry down the hall.

"I'm fine, where are Nat and Clint?"

"We split up, they are meeting us back at the safe house."

"Alright, lets take care of this mess." I say smirking at him.

We fight off everyone coming at us. Steve with his shield and me with my gun. We try destroying all the technology we can. What we really want to do is destroy the facility but this is second best. We are almost done when I mis judge a bullet headed my way and it hits my leg.

"Dammit."

"Whats wrong?"

"Bullet to the leg, I'll make it till we get back."

"You sure?"

"Keep going Cap."

"Yes ma'am."

Once we get out I make it a few blocks before I start to fall behind. Steve stops and looks at me.

"I'll carry you." he says.

"Thanks."

"No problem, how much blood have you lost?"

"Not enough to cause any problems, I'll make it till we get back."

When we get back to the safe house Nat and Clint are already there.

"What happened?" ask Clint as Steve sets me down on the couch.

"I got shot in the leg."

"Move so I can get the bullet out." Natasha tells Clint and Steve.

Nat carefully pulls it out which hurts like a bitch but I get over it. She then cleans it and and wraps it, I'm going to have to wait till we get back to have it stitched up.

"Can you grab my laptop for me?"

"Yeah."

He leaves and Clint looks at us. "Fury says they can get us out tonight."

"That's good." says Natasha.

"What was so important that you needed to stay in there?" ask Clint.

Steve comes back in with my laptop and they all sit down. "Our friends over at Hydra are trying to recreate the super solider serum, there test subjects keep dying though. They are covering them up as lab accidents." I say

"Shit." says Clint.

"Yeah that's why I needed to make sure we destroyed as much as possible, they are going to be a major pain in our ass so I thought that in advance I would send a bug out. Hydra offices across the world are going to have system crashes." I smile proudly.

"It's going to slow down the process and give us time to stop them." says Steve.

"Exactly."

"Nice job." he says.

"Thank you, we can talk more later we should probably pack up though."

Clint and Nat go to there room and Steve helps me to mine before going to get his things. Once we make it to the location of our pick up we get in the helicopter where Fury is waiting for us.

"Hayes what happened." He ask looking at my leg.

"Took a bullet, I need to get it stitched up when we get back."

"And the deal with Hydra?"

"Trying to recreate the super solider serum, their test subjects keep dying though. We destroyed as much tech as we could and then I sent out a bug from inside the labs before we left."

"Nice job you four, debrief can wait until tomorrow, Hayes when we get back go get that leg looked at."

"Yes sir."

About half way through the flight I start to feel light headed so I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat. I feel someone nudge me and I open my eyes to see Steve looking at me.

"Your bleeding through your bandage."

"Shit." I whisper.

"Nat do we have more bandages?"

"Yeah, apply pressure to it. Alex do you feel light headed?"

"Yup."

"Fury how far out are we?" Ask Steve.

"Thirty minutes."

"Is she going to make it?" Ask Clint.

"I'm not dying smarty pants."

"Yeah well you don't look so good." Says Steve.

We do get back thirty minutes later and Steve takes me up to the medical floor of the tower. He sets me down on a bed and steadies me before getting a nurse. She comes in and starts screwing things up so I refuse to let her touch me.

"Alex you need help." Steve says after I make her leave the room.

"She is doing more harm than good so I need someone else to do it."

"How bout Bruce?"

"Sure."

He is down five minutes later and starts a blood transfusion before numbing my leg up.

"How'd you pull this off." He laughs.

"Long story short, I messed with the bull and got the horns."

"Well you lost a good amount of blood." He says stitching it up.

"I'm feeling it." I say tiredly.

"Just a few more minutes, I need to make sure you have enough blood in your system. I'm assuming you like doctors about as much as Nat and Clint do."

"Yup."

"You assassins and doctors." He laughs.

"I don't trust most and quiet honestly I could do a better job than most nurses."

I hear Steve laugh in the corner "You're probably right." He says smiling at me.

"Still feel light headed?" Ask Bruce.

"No." I say.

"Alright I'll unhook you and let you go upstairs. Take it easy and try not to walk on it too much."

"Got it."

He buts a bandage where the IV was and double checks the bandage on my leg before leaving the room. Steve picks me up and walks to the elevator before pressing the button for my floor.

"Jarvis can we get some lights?"

"Of course Mr. Rogers."

The lights turn on and I turn my head into his chest, they are bright.

"You okay?" He whispers.

"Just tired." I whisper back

He sets me down on my bed and I sit up.

"Can you grab me some shirts and a shirt from the top draw?" I ask.

"Yeah."

He tosses them to me and then helps me stand up. I go and change in the bathroom and pull my hair up before turning the light off and going over to my bed where Steve is sitting. I pull back the blankets and snuggle in.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah I just need some sleep." I say closing my eyes.

His kisses my head "you know where to find me if you need me."

"Yup, goodnight Steve."

"Night Alex."

I hear him quietly close the door before I let myself drift off to sleep, finally letting the events of the mission catch up to me.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hey guys short chapter I know, I'm sorry. I am leaving for a trip for two weeks so I may or may not be able to update but keep reviewing, i love hearing from you guys and I want to know what you guys want to see. Anyway I hope you like this chapter!

**Steve's POV**

After debrief is over the next day I go down to the gym and bust a few punching bags. While I'm working out I start thinking about Alex. I really like her but I don't want to rush anything, I need to talk to her. I take the elevator up to the community level hoping that she is up there and so that I can grab lunch. When i get up there she is sitting there with Clint and Natasha but when she see's me she walks over to me.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah, that's actually why I came up here." I say back to her.

The two of us go outside and we sit on the couch out by the railing.

"Ok I'm just going to say it. I really like you and I think you are incredibly sweet and just generally amazing but if this is going to work out I think we need to take it slow." She says.

"You stole the words right out of my mouth."

"Oh, I'm glad we are on the same page." She laughs

" I just don't want to move too fast and mess anything up."

" I'm not worried about that, I just think we need to get to know each other more."

"Then how bout we start by a date, my treat, I'll make dinner tonight." I say.

"That sounds great." She says.

"Okay, come up to my floor at six."

"Alright soldier, see ya then." She says getting up.

"Your leg okay?"

"I'll survive, I've had way worse." She says walking in.

After I grab lunch I head upstairs and shower and by the time I have done that it's already 4:30 so I get everything out to start dinner, nothing fancy just some pasta and some pasta. By the time six roles around everything is almost ready and I hear the elevator door open. Alex walks in wearing jeans with boots and a dark red shirt with a black leather jacket, she looks good.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey yourself." She says sitting down at the bar across from me.

"Just in time, I'm almost done."

"No rush." She says smiling. She looks over on the counter and looks at my sketch pad that I accidentally left out. "I didn't know you could draw, this is amazing."

"I can show you my studio after dinner if you want." I say.

"That would be awesome."

A few minutes later we are sitting down at the table and she takes her first bite.

"Steve this is really good."

"Thanks."

After a few second she looks at me again. "So what was it like growing up in the 20's?"

"Oh you know it was fine once you cancel out the bullies." I laugh.

"Who would be mean to you?"

"I was an easy target, I was a scrawny little thing." I say smiling at her.

"And look at you now."

"Yeah, I did have one friend though, Bucky Barnes, the greatest man I ever knew. Don't get me wrong I love the Avengers but Bucky was with me through everything, even the war...until we lost him. He was a brave soldier."

"I'm sorry Steve, I would have love to have met him, he sounds like a great guy."

"I have you guys now, he was great though. He was quiet the ladies man as well, always dragging me places to meet girls."

"I bet you guys got into some real trouble." She laughs.

"He did, I was just there to watch." I say smirking.

"Did you ever find anyone?" She ask.

"Peggy Carter, she was there when I was injected with the serum. She was one special girl, the last person I talked to before I hit the ice. She is living in D.C now, I have seen her a few times. She keeps telling me to find someone." I say laughing."

"She sounds sweet." Says Alex smiling.

"I hope you get to meet her."

"Me too."

"I know you don't want to dive too much into the past but did you have any siblings?"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know, I had a brother and a sister, I was the youngest. After my parents died my brother was adopted and my sister and I were raked to the red room, she didn't make it too long. She was always getting sick, she died during experimentation."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay now, I miss them both everyday but Natasha took pity on me and took me under her wing. She made sure I stayed out of trouble."

"So you two are close?"

"Very close, and Clint is like a brother. Any person that Natasha trust I trust. And I knew the second I met him that they were perfect for each other and as everyone here knows they love each other a lot even though they show it in odd ways."

"That they do." I laugh.

"They are the reason I joined Shield. I figured with all the bad I had done I needed to do some good, too much red on my ledger."

"Not your fault though."

"I know, just feels like it sometimes, no time like the present though." She says with a sad smile.

"I think your great if that makes a difference." I say.

"You're not to bad yourself." She says smirking.

"Oh well I'm glad I have your approval, I don't know how I would go on if I didn't." I laugh.

"I bet you would find a way." She laughs back.

We continue talking for another hour. I discover that she prefers hand to hand combat over anything else and that she was quiet the daddy's girl when she was younger. She is an excellent dancer and volunteered to show me sometime and she loves dogs.

"You ready to see the studio?"

"Yeah."

She follows me back and when I open the door she gasp.

"Steve this is amazing."

"It's okay I guess."

She stops at one of Peggy "Is this her?"

"Yeah." I say shyly.

"She is beautiful." She says looking back at me.

The picture is one from during the war, back when she was younger.

"I'm sure she would disagree with you but I agree."

"I see why you liked her."

"Yeah I did, but like she keeps telling me, it's time to move on."

She walks over to one of Bucky. "And this is Bucky."

"Yeah."

" it's beautiful Steve."

"Thanks."

After showing her a few more drawings we go sit in the living room. I turn some music on and we sit down and talk. After about thirty minutes she gets up.

"Dance with me."

"I don't dance."

"Come on it's easy, just sway a little." she says reaching for my hand.

I get up and I wrap my arms around her waist. She reaches up and wraps her arms around me neck and we look at each other. We sway to the music without saying anything to each other, content with the silence. About half way through the song she leans her head on my chest and we keep going. When the song is over she looks at me.

"You don't dance huh?"

"I never had the right partner."

"And now?"

"I think I might have found someone."

I tilt her head up and kiss her, I know we said we should take it slow but I can't help myself. When we break apart she smiles at me.

"Taking it slow huh?" she smirks.

"You sure know how to lure a man in."

"I have my talents."

"I see that."

"Although you have arguably better talents."

"I don't know." I say smirking.

"A man that can cook, draw, dance." she adds with a wink. "And in his free time happens to be the leader of the Avengers, I don't know seems pretty talented to me."

"I dabble." I laugh.

"Mhm." she laughs.

After a few minutes of standing there she glances at the clock.

"I should probably go to bed, thanks for dinner, and the dancing,and everything she else." she says smiling.

"It was my pleasure, I hope to do it again soon."

"Me too." she says before standing on her tip toes and kissing my cheek. "Goodnight Steve."

"Goodnight Alex."

With that she walks to the elevator and gives me one last smile before the door closes. I think I'm falling for her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Alex's POV**

The next few weeks are busy. I get cleared for active duty again so I'm busy getting my leg back into shape and Steve and I have a few more dates, all go really well. He is such a sweet guy and he has a great heart, who wouldn't like him. Early one morning we decide to go for a run however he ends up lapping me twice.

"On your left." He laughs passing me again.  
"Steve I swear." I say laughing and stopping to catch my breath.  
He walks over to me smirking. "What, are you jealous?"  
"No...maybe."  
"Well how can I fix that?" He ask pulling me closer to him by my waist.  
"I can think of a few ways." I say smirking.  
"Me too." And then he kisses me.

When we break apart he grabs my hand and we walk back to the tower. We head up to the community level to grab some breakfast and the rest of the team is already there, minus Thor who is still on Asgard. I grab a bowl of cereal before sitting down in between Nat and Steve.

"How was it?" Ask Nat.  
"He lapped me three times, I mean the leg is still a little sore but still."  
"It'll get better, and he laps everyone, it's nothing new." Says Natasha.  
"Sorry." Says Steve bashfully.  
"Whipped." Coughs Clint.

Natasha hits his arm and Tony snickers. Pepper in turn glares at him and Bruce just smiles a little.

"On that note I'm going to get cleaned up." I say standing up.

When I do stand I put pressure on my leg and it hurts a lot. I let out a hiss and everyone turns to look at me.

"What's wrong?" Ask Steve.  
"I think I over did it this morning, no worries. " I say walking away.

Everyone goes back to what they were doing and Steve gives me a concerned look and follows me to the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're okay?"  
"I'm fine, I'll just ice it and stretch some. I over worked it. Don't worry." I say kissing his cheek.  
"Okay, I'll see you later?"  
"Yup."

I walk away and get on the elevator and head up to my floor. I shower and then change into leggings and a tank top. I head into one of my spare rooms which I turned into a ballet studio and I turn on some music. Ballet is an easy way for me to stretch out the muscles in my legs and not over exert myself. I'm in there for an hour and a half before I feel eyes on me. I stop what I'm doing and I see Steve. He is leaning against the door frame smiling at me.

"How long have you been standing there?" I ask shyly.  
"Ten minutes, you're beautiful when you dance...I mean you're always beautiful but..." He starts to fumble.  
"Thank you." I say softly kissing his lips.  
"Is your leg feeling better?"  
"After that yes."  
"I'm glad. He says running his hand through my hair.  
"Do you want to watch a movie?" I ask.  
"Yeah sounds good."

I decide to show Steve the first Harry Potter movie and after the first one he just wants to keep watching. So we order take out and get through the first five movies. By the end of the fifth neither one of us wants to get up to start the next one. We are laying on the couch and I have my head on his chest and he is rubbing his hand up and down my back.

"What's your favorite one so far?" I ask tiredly.  
"The third one so far." He whispers. I look up and see that his eyes are closed.  
"Time for bed?" I ask.  
"No, it means I have to leave you, let's just stay here a bit longer."  
"Okay." I whisper.

The next morning I wake up on the couch with Steve's arms wrapped around me. I smile at him still asleep until out of the corner of my eye I see Clint.

"What the hell." I whisper trying not to wake up Steve.  
"You two didn't show for training this morning, that never happens. I thought I'd see what was up. Obviously nothing as fun as I had hoped." He smirks.  
"Whatever birdbrain." He rolls his eyes at my nickname for him.  
"You coming down for breakfast?"  
"If you leave now and don't breath a word to Tony."  
"Deal."

He walks over to the elevator and the door closes. I turn in Steve's arms a little and start to pepper his face with kisses. His eyes open and his grip on me tightens.

"Good Morning to you too." He says smiling at me.  
"Breakfast is ready downstairs, also Clint found us asleep on the couch."  
"Great." He says stretching.  
"Let's get this over with." I say getting up.  
"Hold up." He pulls me back down and kisses me. "Okay now we can go."

When we get down there Tony is snickering so finally I look at him.

"What's so funny Tony."  
"Oh nothing, how was the couch last night?"  
"Clint!" I yell.  
"I didn't say a word." He snickers.  
"What did you do?"  
"I snapped a pic before you woke up, I showed it to them. Technically I didn't say a word."  
"It's a really cute picture." Says Natasha.  
"Not the point." I say sitting down with a huff.

Later that day everyone is doing there own things when we get the call that we have a mission. A hydra base that needs to be destroyed in Germany. We all suit up and get on the quinjet. Nat and Clint are flying, Tony and Bruce and nerding out over something and I sit by Steve. The flight is going fine until we hit some bad turbulence. It would be fine except I hate flying. I'm gripping the arm rest next to me when I feel Steve's hand grab mine a squeeze it.

"You okay?" He ask.  
"I really hate flying. " then another bump. "Clint how much longer is this going to go on."  
"That looks to be the last of, sorry guys."

I let out a sigh but I don't let go of Steve's hand and he doesn't let go of mine, we just sit there.

"Alright boys time to go." Says Natasha.

Steve, Tony, and Bruce are all jumping, who knows why. And then Clint, Natasha, and I are going to meet up with them.

Steve stands up and I looked at him.

"I will never understand why you want to jump out of a perfectly good plane."  
"All part of the job."  
"Be careful, leave me a little of the mess to clean up."  
"I don't want to know what happens if I don't." He says smirking before jumping out.  
"He didn't have a parachute on did he." I say.  
"Nope." Says Clint.

The three of us land and when we get off its a mad house. The building is on fire and everyone is fighting.

"Stark it took you five minutes to set the place on fire, really?" I ask over the com link.  
"I'm skilled, Capsicle looks like he is in a bit of a pickle, why don't you go help him."  
" I got it, Alex work on getting the electrical down." Says Steve.  
"Got it."  
"Clint, get up as high as you can and make sure no one leaves, Nat...I trust your judgement and Tony back up Alex. Everyone watch for Bruce."

We do as we are told and while it's hard getting past everyone to the electrical it's totally worth it getting to destroy all that.

"You have some pint up anger?" Ask Tony.  
"Nope, you don't want to see me angry." I say smirking.  
"Alright guys we are good over here, Tony and Alex you done?" Ask Steve over the com."  
"Yup headed your way." I say before Tony can respond.

Once we get back to the tower everyone goes to bed but for whatever reason I can't seem to. I guess after a mission you feel the need to be active. I get out of bed and go down to the gym to get some of my energy out and I find Steve already in there finishing off what looks to be his third punching bag.

"What are you doing up?" I ask.  
He turns and looks at me. "I could be asking you the same thing, when did you get down here?"  
"Just now, I just can't fall asleep, I figured I could work off some energy."  
"Ah."  
"And how bout you Solider?"  
"Same thing."  
"Do you want to spar?" I ask.  
"Sure."

We do and once he has me pinned on the mat ten minutes later I smile at him.

"You put up a good fight." I say catching my breath.  
"The same goes for you."  
"Are you going to let me up?"  
"Maybe." He says kissing the left side of my neck. "Maybe not." He says kissing the other side.  
"Stop teasing me Rodgers." I say before he kisses me.

It's a deep kiss but I take It further. After a few minutes we break apart and I look at him.

"We should stop..." He says.  
"But?"  
"I really don't want to." He says blushing.  
"How bout I come sleep in your room then."  
"I 'd like that." He says kissing me again.  
"You'll have to get off."  
"Right." He says getting up and helping me up.

We take the elevator back up to his floor and when we get up there he showers before he climbs into bed next to me. He wraps his arms around me and I kiss him.

"This is much better." I whisper.  
"Agreed."

Then we both fall asleep.

Steve's POV

The next few months are filled with missions and many more dates with Alex. We spend any and all free time together wether it be training or just hanging out I love every second of it. We are sitting on the couch one day when her phone rings.

"Agent Hayes." She says into the phone. "When do we leave?" She looks up and smiles at me. "Alright, I'll be there in an hour." She says before hanging up.  
"Where are you off to?" I ask.  
"Russia with Natasha." She says. The look on her face is impossible to read.  
"Have you been back since...?"  
"No, it'll be fine. I think..."  
"Clint's not going?"  
"No he is off on a solo mission, should only be gone a day though. They only needed two people, I guess Nat and I seemed like the best two to send." She says playing with my hand.  
"Are you okay?" I ask after a minute.  
"I don't know, I'm nervous I guess."  
I kiss the top of her head. "You'll be fine, you're one of the best agents they have."  
"Will you come upstairs and help me pack?"  
"Of course."

Thirty minutes later we are up in her room and Natasha walks in, bag in hand.

"You almost ready?" She ask Alex.  
"Yup." she says zipping her bag. "I left my phone downstairs, I'm going to go grab it real quick."  
"Okay." Says Natasha. Once she leave Natasha looks at me. "Is she okay?"  
"I honestly don't know, she said she was nervous."  
"Did she tell you what we were doing?"  
"No."  
"Gathering more information on the Red Room. Trying to shut them down."  
"And they are sending you two in their alone?" I say raising my voice.  
"We know what we are doing, we are going to be fine as long as we keep our distance. She can handle herself."  
"Well I know that...does Clint know?"  
"Nope, I can't get a hold of him. I'd imagine his reaction would be similar to yours." She laughs.  
" I worry."  
"Thank you." She says.  
"For what?"  
"For making her happy. You both deserve it but I haven't seen her this happy ever."  
"Really?"  
"Nope, you're good for her Cap."  
Just then Alex walks back in "You ready?"  
"Yup, I'll meet you downstairs." Says Natasha.  
Once she leaves I pull Alex into my arms. "I see why you're nervous."  
"She told you?"  
"Yeah."  
"It'll be fine." She says.  
"You're right it will be." I say kissing her. "I love you."  
She smiles at me. "I love you too." She says before kissing me again. "I should go, don't have too much fun without me here."  
"No promises." I say smiling at her.

And with that she leaves.

Clint gets back a few days later and when I tell him where they went he isn't too happy.

"They sent them in there just the two of them?" He says taking a sip of his beer. Tony,Bruce, Clint, and I are all eating dinner.  
"Yeah, I don't know why they didn't send back up." I say.  
"This is why I don't work for shield." Says Tony.  
"Tony you don't work for anyone." Laughs Bruce.  
"For good reason." Says Tony.

It's the next day when I get the call from Natasha.

"Hello?"  
"Steve thank god, where are you?"  
"The tower, why?"  
"...they have Alex...I can't get her out by myself. I need you guys to come help me."  
I don't answer.  
"Steve?"  
"We will be there as soon as we can."  
"Wait Steve before you hang up...she is going to be okay, we are going to get her out."  
"Leaving her isn't an option."  
"Is Clint back?"  
"Got back four days ago."  
"He'll now where to go, I'll meet you there. I'm surveying right now."  
"Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine as usual. Just get here."

And she hangs up. I get the team together and by the time we get there Natasha looks exhausted. Clint walks up to her and they start talking in Russian, something I don't understand. Five minutes later they walk over to us.

"We are going to split up, nothing special about this just find her." Says Natasha.  
Everyone nods and we head off but I stop Natasha.  
"What's wrong?"  
"I'm just worried about her."  
"You know it's not your fault though."  
"Yeah, I just...feel bad because she is the one who got caught, she was in there longer than me she doesn't need to be in there again."  
"Neither do you,now come on let's go."

I go with Tony and Bruce while Clint and Natasha go a different way. We are looking everywhere but can't find her. I'm about to give up when I hear Nat over the com link.

"We found her."  
"Do you have her?"  
"Clint's got her, she is in rough shape. We will meet you guys back at the quinjet."  
"Thank you."

They beat us back and when I see Alex my stomach drops. She has dried blood on her face and she is barley conscious.

"Get her back on." Says Bruce

We all get on board and Clint sets her down. Bruce starts looking her over and I'm a little in shock. Clint gets us in the air and Natasha helps Bruce but I just kinda stand there. I snap out of it when Alex starts to put up a struggle against Bruce.

"Don't touch me." She says struggling.  
"Steve help." Says Nat.  
I walk over and hold her arms down and look at her. "Alex you need to calm down, Bruce is trying to help you."  
She takes a deep breath and looks at me. "Steve?"  
"Yeah, I'm right here."  
"They toyed with her mind, she may not be able to recognize everything right now." Says Natasha. "Your going to want to scan her brain when we get back."  
I release my grip on her arms and she sits up and wraps them around me. "You found me."  
"I'll always find you." I whisper in her ear.  
"Steve I need to at least get an IV started on her, she is extremely dehydrated." Says Bruce.  
"Okay." I look at Alex. "Bruce needs to start and IV on you okay."  
"Don't leave me."  
I've never seen her like this. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to stay right here."

She nods her head and lays in back down on my shoulder. She holds an arm out for Bruce who quickly and painlessly starts an IV on her. He tapes it down and decides that everything else can wait till we get back to the tower.

"Keep her awake, I don't know what kind of damage she has."  
"Got it."  
Nat comes and sits on the other side of Alex and looks at me.  
"I'm so sorry Alex."  
She lifts her head and looks at Nat. "It's not your fault, I have some words for Fury when we get back though."  
"We all do." I say.

Once we get back I pick Alex up and Bruce takes her straight to the MRI. I lay her down and leave.

"Where are you going?" she ask frantically.  
"I'm going to be in the other room with Bruce so I can talk to you. We will make it quick I promise."  
"Okay."

I go sit next to Bruce in the other room and he speak over the microphone.

"Try to stay as still as possible, I'm going to make it quick."  
"Okay."

Tony and Pepper went back up to their floor to sleep a little and Clint and Natasha are sitting in the hallway, both just as worried as I am. Fifteen minutes in Bruce finds something.

"It's an implant, mind control. I'm going to have to remove it."  
"Does it do anything else."  
"It could cause her to have no control over what she sees or does. She could see you and think it was an enemy."  
Just then Alex speaks up. "Bruce I don't feel good."  
"What's wrong?"  
"I feel nauseous."  
"Bruce get her out." I say.  
"Got it."

I walk in the other room and help her sit up. I grab a trash can and two seconds later she throws up.

"I'm going to pass out." She whispers.  
"Bring her with me." Says Bruce.

We get her to a room where she keeps throwing up. I'm trying to keep her awake until Bruce can figure out what's wrong. He runs some blood test and comes back.

"She has a lot of drugs in her system, I need to pump her stomach or she'll have a bad reaction. It'll help you feel better Alex."  
"Just do it." She says.

By the time that's over she is beyond exhausted. She is laying down and is gripping my hand.

"Are you done?" She ask Bruce quietly.  
"I wish the chip could wait but I don't want to risk it."  
"Is she going to be okay for all that?"  
"Yeah, I'll make it quick, it's not too complicated and its not deep in there."  
I look at Alex. "You okay?"  
"Yup, just want him to be done."

Bruce gives her anesthetic and she looks drowsy.

"I'll be here when you wake up okay?"  
"Okay."

I walk out and go sit next to Clint and Natasha. Natasha is asleep in Clint's lap.

"How's she doing?" Ask Clint.  
"Bruce had to pump her stomach and he's taking her back now to get the chip out of her head. Shaken up and dehydrated but seems fine other wise."  
"They shouldn't have been sent in alone." Says Clint.  
"I agree but that conversation is going to have to wait. Is Tasha okay?"  
"She will be, she feels guilty. I also think she has a concussion but as per usual she won't let anyone check her out."  
"Stubborn."  
"Aren't we all." He laughs.

We sit there a little longer and I start to get worried.

"Steve she is going to be fine."  
"I know it's just the first time I've seen her like this."  
"I hate to break it to you but it won't be the last."  
"Part of the job." He says.

And right then Bruce walks out looking slightly concerned. All I can do is expect the worst.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Alex's POV

When I wake up I open my eyes to see Steve asleep in the chair next to me. I slowly become more aware of the pain in my head and my chest, I feel like I got run over by a bus. Steve's hand is on my bed so I grab and squeeze it to see if he will wake up luckily he does.

"Hey solider."  
"Hey, how are you feeling."  
"Like a got hit by a bus."  
"I'll be right back, I'm going to grab Bruce."

The two of them come back a few minutes later.

"So I got the chip out but your heart rate got pretty low while I was doing it. Just a warning even though I took the chip out there may be some side effects for the next few weeks. Your chest probably hurts and your head too. I want to keep you here for the day to make sure you're okay and then tonight you can go back up to your room. Do you need pain meds?"  
"No, it's not that bad." In reality it was but I don't need more drugs in my system.  
"Alright, I'll be back later. Take it easy."  
"Thanks Bruce."  
"No problem."

Once Bruce leaves I scoot over and make room for Steve to lay down next to me. He does and he wraps his arms around me and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"How's Natasha?" I ask.  
"Clint thinks she has a concussion but other wise she is fine, worried about you."  
"She couldn't have done anything." I say.  
"What happened in there?"  
"I got too close, they recognized me. Natasha was far away so by the time she got to me I was gone. They drugged me up pretty good and put the chip in there. Had me kill a few people and then they knocked me out and put me in the cell. A lot of things should have gone differently starting with more backup." I say.  
"I have a few words for Fury." Says Steve, he looks mad.  
"I'm sure everyone else does too. Don't get too mad, we didn't know this was going to happen."  
"That doesn't matter, he sent you two in there without backup I don't know what else he thought would happen."  
I sit up and look at him. I put one hand on his face and stroke it with my thumb. "Hey, I'm okay, I'm a big girl. It's okay." I say before I lightly kiss him.  
"I know...I know I'm sorry. I'm just glad you're okay." He says kissing the top of me head.

We stay that way for a little bit until Clint and Natasha come in. Nat sits down on the bed across from me and Clint sits in the chair, Nat looks like shit.

"Tash you okay?" I ask.  
"I'm fine."  
"No she's not, she has a concussion." Says Clint. Natasha glares daggers in him and he just roles his eyes. "Don't lie to her, she is worried about you, so am I."  
"I'm not the one laying in a hospital bed." She says.  
"I'm fine, have you slept."  
"Kind of."  
I look at Clint "I tried." He says.  
"You two are so stubborn." I say.  
"And you aren't?" Ask Steve.  
"Shut up." I say.  
"You have a headache don't you?" I ask her.  
"I'll survive."  
"So will I, in fact I think I can leave in a few hours so no worries."  
"Those side effects of the chip...it's not going to be pretty." She says.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I had one once, before they figured out how to do it without the chip. I would be fine one minute and the next I would have no idea where I was. I got it out after I escaped."  
"Shit."  
"Well aren't you in a chipper mood." Says Clint.  
"She needs to know what's about to happen."  
"Yeah and you two need sleep." I say.  
"Alex..." Says Natasha.  
"I'm being serious, you two keep arguing, go get sleep and then we can talk."  
"Fine." Says Natasha leaving the room.  
"Sorry bout that, you know her." Says Clint.  
"Has she been like that all day?"  
"Yup, she won't talk about it. I know what happened though. The headache isn't helping but she won't take anything for it."  
"You're her husband, just make her do it. She is miserable."  
"Mhm you know how easy it is to make her do stuff." He smirks.  
"Good luck man." Says Steve.  
"Yeah I should probably go deal with that."  
"See ya later. " I say.

Two hours later Bruce lets me go upstairs but tells me to take it easy and no training for two weeks at least. Steve takes me up to my floor and I shower and change before we both head to the community level. Pepper is working on dinner and and Tony and Bruce are working on something at the table.

"Good to see you up." Says Tony.  
"That ends now." I say plopping down on the couch.  
"Everyone's down for the count." He says back.  
"It sucks." I say. Steve pulls me closer to him and I lean on his shoulder. "Ow."  
"Did I hurt you?"  
"No everything just hurts."  
"Meds?"  
"No, no drugs."  
"Alex.."  
"No drugs."  
"Fine."  
"Thank you."  
"No problem." He says kissing the top of my head.  
"You two make me sick." Says Tony.  
"Good." I say.  
"Go back to your toys Tony." Yells Pepper from the kitchen.

Steve and I both laugh. A few minutes later Clint and Natasha walk in and sit down across from us in the living room. Natasha curls into to Clint and he puts an arm around her. She smiles at me as he kisses her head.

"You better now?" I ask.  
"Yeah, sorry about earlier."  
"No problem."  
"Fury wants to talk tomorrow." She says.  
"Just you and me?"  
"Everyone." Says Clint.  
"Does he know what he's in for?" Ask Steve.  
"I don't know what else he would expect to happen." I say.  
"We'll see." Says Natasha.

A few minutes later dinner is ready and Steve brings me a bowl of pasta. I pick at it more than I actually eat it though. After getting my stomach pumped I'm not really hungry.

"Are you going to eat that?" Ask Clint.  
"Clint really?" Says Natasha.  
"No go ahead." I say passing him my bowl. "I'm not super hungry."  
"Have you eaten anything today?" Ask Bruce.  
"Kind of, everything just seems really heavy after last night."  
"Alex I'm so sorry I didn't even think about that." Says Pepper.  
"It's okay, I'll get something later." I lean my head on Steve's shoulder and Tony gets up. A few minutes later he comes back with a sprite and hands it to me.  
"Drink that." He says sternly.  
"Thanks dad." I laugh.  
"Ha very funny." He says. " but really, drink that and then try eating something light later."  
"Will do."

Five minutes later I start to feel tired.

"I gotta go to bed." I say.  
"Go up to my room, I'll be right there." Whispers Steve.  
"Okay, goodnight guys."  
"Night." Everyone says.

I head up to Steve's floor and go straight to his room where I get under all the covers.

"Jarvis, lights please."  
"Yes Ms. Hayes."

The lights turn off and I close my eyes ready for bed. By the time Steve comes up I am barley awake. I hear the bathroom door close and 10 minutes later he comes back out. He gets under the blankets and pulls me over to him.

"Thank you." I whisper.  
"No problem, you sure you're not hungry?"  
"Not right now, I need to sleep."  
"Me too." He laughs.

And after that we both fall asleep. A few hours later though I wake up from a nightmare. It was one about the red room but when I woke up I didn't see Steve's room in the tower, I saw my cell where I had been tortured and beaten. Steve was trying to snap me out of it but I didn't know it was him. I kept hitting him and telling him to get away from me until I finally started to come back to reality. I was in the corner of his room and he had my arms pinned to my side. I'm breathing heavily and he is staring at me. He is also saying something but I can't tell what it is until finally I get some clarity.

"I'm ok." I tell him  
"You sure?"  
"Yeah." I say leaning my head on his shoulder.

He wraps his arms around me and rubs my back.

"That's what Natasha was talking about." I say.  
"I figured." He whispers.

We sit like that a little longer not saying anything until I realize how hungry I am.

"I need food." I say getting up.  
"What do you want?" He ask walking to the kitchen with me.  
"Something light."  
"Grilled cheese?"  
"Sure."

He makes two sandwiches and comes and sits next to me. After we eat a little he looks at me.

"Where did you think you were?"  
"Red room."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Can't do anything about it, just let t pass I guess."

After we are done Steve cleans off the dishes and we both go back to bed.

Steve's POV

When I wake up in the morning I carefully untangle myself from Alex before changing to work out. When I get down to the gym Clint is down there too. I work out for almost two hours before heading back upstairs. When I get back to my room Alex is still asleep. Her long black hair is laid out across her pillow and she looks peaceful. I hate to wake her up but Fury's going to be here in an hour. I sit down next to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Alex." I say, no response. "Alex you gotta get up."  
She roles over and looks at me. "Why?"  
"Fury is going to be here in an hour."  
"So again I pose the question, why?"  
"We need to talk about what happened."  
"Fine." She say pulling the covers off.  
"You go get ready and I'll make breakfast."  
"I'll be back then." She says.

She goes up to her floor and comes back twenty minutes later and sits down at the bar and lays her head down.

"Not in the mood for this." She says as I set a plate of pancakes down in front of her.  
"The pancakes?" I ask smirking.  
She looks up at me. "No smart ass."  
"Still tired?"  
"And sore, slightly dizzy but not bad."  
"Let me know if that gets worse." I say.  
"Always so worried." She laughs looking up at me.  
"And you're not worried enough." I say smiling at her.  
"I have you for that."

We finish breakfast and then head downstairs where everyone else is waiting for Fury to get here. Alex plops down on the couch next to Natasha and I sit down next to her.

"You guys ready." Ask Clint.  
"Not in the slightest." Says Alex.  
"This is going to end one of two ways, we rip Fury's head off or we have a civil conversation and come to an agreement." Says Natasha.  
"Civil conversation, ha that's funny." Says Tony.  
"Hope for the best." Says Bruce.

And right then the Elevator door opens and Nick walks off, looks at us, and walks over to stand in front of us.

"Agent Hayes and Agent Romanoff, what happened?"  
"Have you read the report?" Ask Natasha.  
"Yes."  
"Then you know exactly what happened."she says back.  
"I want to hear it from you."  
"I got too close and some guards recognized me, drugged me, put an implant in my brain and messed with my head.I killed a few people and was then beaten. 24 hours later I was rescued by my team. Bruce took the implant out, got the drugs out of my system and I'm now off duty for two weeks at least. Agent Romanoff over there suffered a nasty concussion and will also be off active duty for at least two weeks. All this because we had no backup." Says Alex.  
"Was the mission accomplished?" Ask Fury.  
"No." Says Natasha.  
"And why?"  
"We're you not just listening to what happened out there?" Ask Alex.  
"Your mission was to infiltrate the Red Room, you were there four days before you were captured. It should not have taken that long."  
"You sent the two agents who came from the Red Room to infiltrate it, I hope you see where the hesitation comes from." Says Natasha.  
"You weren't trained to hesitate, you were trained to do what you are told."  
"We aren't your little monkeys, we have feelings or at least we did last time I checked." Says Alex angrily.  
"Hayes your going soft, Coulson would be disappointed."

There is a moment of silence where you could hear a pen drop before Alex explodes,for good reason. Clint and Natasha look hurt and angry. Alex lunges at Nick and I have to get up and hold her back. I grab her by the waist and she struggles against me. Her Russian accent now makes an appearance.

"Don't you dare tell me that he would be disappointed. Clint, Natasha, and I were his best agents and you know that. You know nothing about what he would think. You don't get to send me to my death and then sit there and tell me I've failed. I am damn good at what I do, we all are. So you can stand there and tell me we failed but we all know that's not true."

She is breathing heavily and I can feel her putting more and more of her weight on me.

"Take it easy." I whisper in her ear.  
"I'm not done with him." She says tiredly.  
"Agent Hayes you are out of line." Says Fury.  
"Nick that's not fair." Says Clint.  
"And why is that Barton?"  
"You sent them in there with no backup what so ever, they have a right to be mad."  
"They didn't just capture me Nick, they played with my mind. I killed three innocent people all because they got control of my mind. Sure Bruce got the chip out but I'm still seeing things, I still don't know where I am half the time."  
"Fine, I should have sent backup, but you two did not do your job, just know that."  
"Damn right you should have sent in backup." Says Natasha.  
"We did our job, we got in, we found a location I don't know what else you want from us."  
"We need information!"  
"Then ask us anything, we are an open book of knowledge. You didn't need to send us in there for information!" Says Alex. She is starting to fade I can tell, it's too much for her right now.  
"Alex you need to take it easy." Says Bruce.  
"I'm fine."

She starts to fight to get out of my arms and I let her go knowing full well I'll pay if I don't. Once she is out she stops and looks at me before she passes out. I grab her just in time.

"We need to get her upstairs, the stress is too much." Says Bruce.  
"Agent Barton take her I need a word with Captain Rodgers." Says Fury.

I reluctantly give Alex to Clint who goes up to Alex's floor with Natasha and Bruce. Tony gives me a nod before following as well. Once they are gone I look at Fury.

"What?" I ask frustrated."  
"We need you for a mission, you leave in the morning for a week."  
"Sir with all do respect I don't think now is the best time..."  
"Need I remind you that I stretched the rules so that you could be happy with her, I telling you that you have a mission, be ready by 0600 hours tomorrow, details will be waiting for you."  
"Yes sir."  
"Good, did you have anything you wanted to say about that conversation?"  
"Those are two of your best agents, they would do anything for you and I think you know that. Just...watch how you treat them."  
"I hear what you are saying and I'll keep that in mind. Now if that's it I have work to be done."  
"That's it."  
"0600 hours." He says walking to the elevator.  
"Yes sir."

As soon as he leaves I make my way up to Alex's floor to see everyone else sitting in her living room.

"Is she okay?"  
"Her mind went into over drive, too much stress. She should wake up soon but she needs to rest today." Says Bruce.  
"Okay."  
"What did Fury want?" Ask Tony.  
"I leave for a week tomorrow."  
"Nows not the best time." Says Natasha.  
"I didn't get a choice."  
"He has had a stick up his ass the last couple of months." Says Clint.  
"Not much we can do." Says Tony.  
"Anyway, can you guys do me a favor and keep an eye on Alex, I'm just worried about her."  
"Of course." Says Tasha.  
"Thanks...I'm going to go see if she is up."  
"Let us know if you need anything." Says Pepper.

Everyone gets up and Bruce tells me he'll be up later. I walk into Alex's room and sit on the edge of her bed. I stay that way until 10  
minutes later she starts to wake up.

"Hey." I say.  
"Shit...I should have listened to you." She says rubbing her head."  
"Does it hurt?"  
"Like hell."  
"I'm sorry." I say running my hand through her hair.  
"I should have listened,what's wrong with you, you look stressed."  
"I'm leaving tomorrow for a week."  
"Oh..."  
"I didn't get a choice."  
"It's okay, I'll be fine." She sounds like she is trying to reassure herself.  
"We have all day together." I say smiling at her.  
"Yup."  
"You tired?"  
"Yup."  
"Scoot over."

She makes room for me and I lay down next to her and put my arms around her.

"Much better." She whispers.  
"Sleep." I say kissing her head.  
"Yes sir."

The rest of the day is spent relaxing. At some point we start watching movies and we don't come out of her room. The only reason I leave is to get food from the kitchen. The next morning Alex is still asleep when I get up to leave. I lightly kiss her forehead before getting up and heading to base.

The first few days of my mission go okay, not great. My head isn't there and I know it. In the fourth day I get a call from Natasha.

"This is Rodgers."  
"Steve you need to come back."  
"Why...?"  
"It's Alex."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Steve's POV

"What happened?" I ask starting to pack quickly.

"She hasn't come out of her room so this morning Clint and I went to go check on her. We got up to her floor and there was broken glass everywhere and she was sitting in the corner of the kitchen. Her arms were cut up and she had some glass in her feet. We got her calmed down enough to get her to Bruce but she keeps going back and forth between knowing what's going on and not. We had to sedate her for right now while we figure out what to do. Bruce is calling Jean Grey from Xavier's to see if she can help."

"Yeah do that, I'm getting on the next flight back, does Fury know?"

"Yeah, where are you?"

"Germany."

"Alright, just hurry...I've never seen her like this."

"I'll be back soon." I say hanging up.

True to my word I get on the next flight to New York and I get there almost 24 hours after I talked to Natasha. I press the button for the medical floor and as soon as the doors open I see the rest of the team talking. They all turn to look at me and I walk over to them.

"Anything change?" I ask.

"Jean just left, we will need to wait a couple of hours to know if it's worked or not but so far so good." Says Bruce.

"Is she awake?"

"Yeah, go see her, everything else can wait." Says Natasha.

I don't wait any longer than that to leave. I open the door to her room and she looks up at me. She has bandages on both arms and I imagine her feet are pretty bad too. The thing I notice the most though is how helpless she looks. Her usually tough, strong exterior is no where to be find. She looks tired too. I walk over to her and grab her hand.

"Steve?"

"I'm right here."

She doesn't say anything else but she pulls me closer to her. I wrap my arms around her and wait for her to say something.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

"Don't be sorry, are you okay?"

"Getting better."

"What happened, or do you even remember?"

"Bits and pieces. I remember cutting my arms cause I though I had a tracking device in there. The broken glass came from plates I threw...and then proceeded to step on. I had no idea what I was throwing but I thought someone was attacking me. After that I don't remember much. I know Bruce had me drugged up pretty good though, I tried attacking Clint and Natasha so he had every right to do that. I've been in and out of knowing what's going on."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"You didn't have a choice." She looks at me. "How was it?"

"It was fine, chasing some leads on Hydra, didn't really get anything."

"You didn't need to come back, I know you want to shut them down."

"Your right I didn't need to come back but I wanted to, your my girl, I gotta watch out for you." I say smiling at her.

"I like that." She says smiling at me.

"I aim to please." I say kissing her head.

"I want to up to my room but Bruce won't let me yet."

"He told me you could in a few hours, he just wants to make sure everything is back to normal."

"Nothing is ever normal."

"As close to as possible."

Just then Bruce walks in and walks over to us.

"I need to change your bandages."

"Go for it." She says.

Bruce unwraps both of her arms and she has some nasty cuts going up both arms. After he puts some stuff on them and re wraps them he moves on to her feet. You can see where the glass was, it was all over her feet, she is going to have a hard time walking for a while. He re wraps those and then looks at her.

"I'm going to let you go back up to your apartment but you need to rest."

"Thank you." She says.

"Your welcome, I mean it though. Your mind needs rest."

"Got it."

Bruce unhooked the IV from her arm and leaves the room. I pick up Alex and look at her.

"Your floor or mine?"

"Yours...mine still needs to be cleaned up..."

"That's fine."

I walk over to the elevator and press the button for my floor and once we get up there I walk to my room and set her down on my bed.

"I'm going to shower real quick, you okay?"

"Yup." she says tiredly.

I leave her laying on my bed and grab a change of clothes before starting the shower. I let the warm water wash away the stress of the past couple of days and I just stand there. I shut off the water after a good 15 minutes and change before walking back into my room. When I open the bathroom door I see Alex asleep, she looks peaceful for once. I get into bed and pull her closer to me. She buries her head in my chest before settling back into sleep. When I wake up I see that it's 9 o clock the next morning. Alex is just beginning to wake up and once she opens her eyes she smiles at me.

"Sleep well?" I ask smiling at her.

"Yeah." She says laying her head in my chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." I say kissing her head.

We sit like that for 10 more minutes before Jarvis speaks up.

"Ms. Potts wanted me to inform you that breakfast is ready downstairs."

"Thank you Jarvis." I say. "We should get ready."

"All my stuff is downstairs."

"How about you shower and I'll go grab you some stuff."

"Okay, thanks."

We both get up and I head down to Alex's floor. When the door opens I can see why Alex didn't want to come here last night. There is glass everywhere and there is blood on the floor and cabinets, it looks like someone was murdered. I make a mental note to come clean it up later and I quickly grab a change of clothes for Alex before heading up to my floor again. When I get to my room Alex is in a towel trying to rewrap her arms.

"Need some help?"

She looks up and smiles at me "yeah, I thought I could do it myself, I guess not."

I grab the bandage from her and start warping it. "Do they hurt?"

"Not too bad, the feet are another story."

I look down to see she has already wrapped them. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." She says smiling at me.

After I finish wrapping her arms I leave her to change and when she comes out she grabs my hand and we slowly walk to the elevator, I'm surprised she can even walk. She leans on me for support but is doing it herself for the most part. Once we get downstairs she sits down at the first available chair and says nothing, she is in pain I can tell. Being the stubborn person she is she wanted to do it by herself. I grab the two of us food before sitting down next to her.

"Better?" I ask.

"Getting there."

"Did you walk all the way down here?" Ask Bruce.

"Walked to the elevator and then to where I am now sitting."

"How's the head?"

"No flashbacks, nightmares, or confusion about where I am so I would say pretty good."

"Let me know if that changes but I think you're okay." Says Bruce

"For the first time in a while. Where are Clint and Natasha?"

"They left early this morning for a week long mission." Says Tony.

"Alright." I say.

The rest of breakfast is quiet and the rest of the day we don't do much. In the coming weeks Alex slowly starts to get better. Her wounds start to heal and she starts to get bak into shape. Much to her displeasure she gets put on desk duty until she can go back in the field. I get off the elevator onto her floor one night after a mission to find her asleep with her head on the counter and a stack of paperwork next to her. I put my hand on her shoulder and she opens her eyes.

"You're back." She says smiling at me. I had been gone for a few days.

"Yeah, you look like you had fun." I say smirking.

"This was all paperwork for you, Clint, and Natasha. Do you know how much damage you did last week."

"We don't need to talk about that."

"Mhm." She says standing up and wrapping her arms around me. "You want some stitches for your forehead?"

"What?"

"You have a nasty gash on your forehead, it looks like it needs some stitches so would you like me to do it?"

"Sure, didn't even know it was there."

"Sit." She says getting the first aid kit from under her sink.

She cleans it off and then quickly stitches it up.

"You're good." I say.

"Lots of practice." She says back.

When she is done she puts a bandage over it and kisses my cheek.

"Go shower and then come back down, I haven't seen you in almost a week."

"Yes ma'am." I say smiling at her, she is back to her usual self.

I shower and change before heading back down to her floor. When I walk into her room she is finishing up some work. I sit next to her and she puts it down.

"Just the paperwork while I was gone?"

"No, I sadly had to train new recruits as well. None of them listen and they think that because they scored high on their written test that they are going to be perfect field agents. One cat called me, he got thrown to the ground so fast he had no idea what hit him."

"I bet he did." I say chuckling.

"That's what happens when you mess with a top level agent." she says proudly. "Maria wasn't too thrilled but whatever, I needed some action since I'm still out for another week at least."

"Almost there." I say kissing the top of her head.

"How was France?"

"Fine, we got the job done, no casualties. Minor bumps and bruises as you can see."

"You didn't have too much fun without me?"

"We could have used you actually. We had a hard time hacking into a few systems and you're so good at it."

"Keep talking." she says kissing me.

"So talented, and sneaky." I say in between kisses.

"Mhm."

"I missed you." I say.

"I missed you too." she says leaning on me. "Fury wants to talk to us in a few weeks." she says running her fingers through my hair.

"Just us?"

"Clint and Natasha too."

"Any idea why?"

"None what so ever, it sounded important whatever it was, he has been on edge the last couple of months, he is hiding something."

"Aren't we all." I sigh.

"It's big whatever it is. Enough of that though, let's get some sleep I need your help training in the morning."

"I'd be happy to oblige." I say pulling her towards me.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing her go back to normal, after 9 months of being with her I want nothing more than the best for her.

Alex's POV

It's two weeks after Thanksgiving when Fury decides to meet with us. The four of us go down to his office and take a seat.

"I'm relocating the four of you to D.C."

"When?" Ask Steve.

"After New Years."

"And how long will we be there?" I ask.

"Six months maximum, we had to let go of a few agents and the Avengers aren't getting much action so I need you four down there."

"Is that it?" ask Clint.

"Yes, Agent Hayes you have a mission the rest of you are dismissed."

Steve, Clint, and Natasha get up and leave and Fury looks at me.

"We have a hostage situation, I need you to defuse the situation and get them out."

"How many?"

"25, mix of adults and kids. The cops and SWAT are already there but they need someone with a little more force."

"Alright." I say getting up.

"Good luck Agent."

Ten hours later and I could mark that off as one of the worst missions I had ever had. Out of the 25 hostages, 4 made it out and that was in critical condition. One of the guys had a bomb and it detonated, we never knew it was there. I was close when it exploded, I'm pretty sure I have some glass in my back but my body just feels numb right now. I get in the elevator and let the door close but instead of pressing a floor I just sit on the ground. I don't realize the elevator is moving, I barley even realize the door opens and on the other side is Natasha.

"You okay?" She ask.

"No."

"I was going to watch a movie with everyone but I think that can wait." She says helping me up. "Let's get you cleaned up."

I sit down on the kitchen counter and take the top half of my suit off so she can clean my back. She takes the glass out and cleans it before stitching up a gash I have running from shoulder to shoulder. When she is done I put my suit back on and sit there.

"I'll get Steve down here."

I just nod my head. The worst part about our job is when we loose innocent people. It tears you apart knowing you could have saved them but you didn't. A few minutes later the elevator door opens and I see Steve. Natasha fills him in on my injuries and then he comes over and I wrap my arms around him.

"Let's go." He whispers.

The three of us get in the elevator and Natasha gets off to go watch the movie with everyone and then the door opens at my floor. We walk back to my room and I sit on the bed and Steve starts a shower. He grabs some pajamas for me and sea them in the bathroom.

"Go shower and we can talk when you're done." He says.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem." He says kissing my head.

I shower and let the water run over me. After 15 minutes I shut the water off and change before opening the door to my room. Steve of course is waiting for me with open arms. I bury my head in his chest and sigh.

"How many?" He ask.

"21."

"What happened?"

"They had a bomb we didn't know about. I could have disarmed it if I had known. There were kids in there."

"You did everything you could."

"I know I just wish I could have saved them all."

"We can't save everyone but we can try."

"I know." I look up at him. "What do you think about moving?"

"I'm okay with it as long as your there."

"I feel the same way." I say pecking his lips.

"Tony, Bruce, and Pepper were a little shocked but they offered to help us all move. Oh also we have Tony's Christmas party on Saturday."

"So many people."

"It'll be fine."

"Sure although I have never seen you in a tux so this could be good."

"There you go." He says smiling at me.

"I'm ready for bed."

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Not hungry now come on bed."

"Yes ma'am."

A few days later it's the day of the Christmas party and Natasha is sitting in my bed while I try to pick out a dress.

"I still like the red one." Says Natasha.

"The lace one?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go try it on. You know last time I wore this was that mission in Germany last year."

"The one where Clint pinned the government official to the wall with arrows after he tried to get you to sleep with him?"

"That's the one." I laugh.

I slip the dress on and zip it. It's a long red lace dress that has a high collar and a large cutout in the back. the contrast of my black hair with the red is what makes me like the dress so much. I open the bathroom door and Natasha looks up from her phone.

"This I can work with." says Natasha smiling.

"It's Tony's christmas party, it's nothing special."

"I know but you actually have a boyfriend who I assume you want to look good for so I'm going to help you."

"You hate dressing up and hate any and all girly stuff, what's going on?"

"Nothing, now take the dress off and change. I'm going to bring my stuff down here so we can get ready together."

"Whatever you say, I'm slightly concerned though."

"Oh calm down."

She comes back down a few minutes later and shows me her dress. It's a long dark green strapless dress. I know for a fact that Clint loves when she wears this dress and has a hard time keeping his hands off of her, she likes to tease him.

"Clint tell you to wear that?" I laugh.

"I thought I might surprise him."

"Tease."

"Always."

We curl each other's hair and then I pin mine to one side before doing a smokey eye and dark lipstick to match my dress. I put my dress on before slipping on some heels and putting the usual things in my bag. I strap a gun to my leg and Natasha laughs at me.

"I know you have one too so don't even." I say.

"I'm just laughing at how alike we are."

"I mean we were pretty much raised together."

"If you can call it that."

"We turned out okay."

"That we did."

We finish getting ready and then head out to the living room were Clint and Steve are waiting. They both look up and smile.

"You wore the green one." Smiles Clint at Natasha.

"Just for you." She says kissing his cheek.

"You look amazing." Whispers Steve in my ear.

"You don't look too bad yourself soldier."

"You know for a bunch is assassins and a super soldier we don't clean up too bad." Laughs Clint.

"The things we do for Stark." Says Natasha.

"Did Thor ever make it back?" I ask.

"No, he should be back by Christmas though." Says Steve.

The four of us get on the elevator and head down to the lobby. The party is in full swing. Stark employees everywhere and the select shield agents. Fury is at the bar with Maria looking unamused. Tony has his arm around Pepper and they look like they are talking business with some people. Bruce walks over to Maria and Fury and orders a drink.

"I need drinks." I say grabbing Steve's hand.

"Plural?" He ask.

"I'm Russian ones not going to do it Cap."

"Truer words have never been spoken." Laughs Natasha.

We all head over to the bar and order drinks. Tony and Pepper come over 20 minutes later and sit down.

"Why do people always want to talk business, it's a party." Says Tony motioning for a drink.

"You're Tony Stark, I don't think you really get a break." I say.

"You all look very nice by the way." he says taking a sip of his drink.

"Well thank you." says Natasha.

We stay down there for three hours. We dance and drink and have fun, I'm glad I went. The team is the last to leave. We all go up to the community floor Tony pours drinks for everyone. We sit there for 30 minutes before Steve leans over and whispers in my ear.

"Let's go outside."

"Okay."

He grabs my hand and closes the door behind us. We walk over to the ledge and he pulls me close to him.

"Anything on your mind?" I ask.

"No, just wanted to be alone with you for a few minutes."

We stay that way for a few more minutes until he pulls back and looks at me.

"You are the most amazing person I have ever met. Since you came into my life 10 months ago you have taken me on one hell of a ride but I wouldn't trade one second of it for anything. I love you more and more everyday and couldn't imagine spending one without you so Alexandra Hayes will you do me the honor of marrying me." Says Steve getting down on one knee.

Him proposing is honestly the last thing I expected to happen tonight but is the best surprise I have ever gotten.

"Of course I will." I say smiling at him

He slides the ring on my finger and then stands up and kisses me. I wrap my arms around him and a few seconds later we break apart.

"Do you have a gun strapped to your leg?" He laughs.

"Of course."

"I love you so much." He says kissing me again.

"I love you too." I say leaning my head on his chest.

I look at the window and see the whole team standing there smiling.

"They are watching." I laugh.

"They knew."

"What?"

"Yeah, while you were on your mission a few days ago Natasha and Clint helped me pick out the ring, Tony told me where to buy it. Tony told Bruce and Pepper about it."

"That's why Natasha was playing Barbie with me, I thought she was acting weird." I laugh. "You're good Cap."

"I try." He says smirking at me.

Just then the door opens and everyone comes out.

"I'm ruining the moment I know but this is exciting stuff, Capsical finally got the girl."

"Tony be nice." Scolds Pepper.

"Congrats you guys." Say Bruce.

"Thank you." I say smiling at him. "And you two, very sneaky." I say laughing at Clint and Natasha.

"You didn't suspect a thing." Says Natasha smiling.

We stay outside a little longer despite the light snowfall and after 30 minutes we all head to our floors, well I go up to Steve's.

"Finally alone." I say smiling at him.

"Were you surprised?" He ask.

"Mhm."

"I know it's soon I just... I couldn't wait."

"It's perfect, and thank you for not being cheesy and doing it on Christmas."

"Not a problem." He says kissing me."

We change and then climb into bed and I look down at my ring. It's a simple silver band with a small diamond on it, perfect and simple.

"You did good." I say.

"I'm glad you like it." I lean my head on his chest and he kisses my head. "Time for bed?"

"Yeah." I say yawning.

I love this man with every bone in my body and can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else.


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you like this chapter, I'm really sorry if Steve's POV seems rushed but we have pretty much all seen the movie so why rewrite what we already know, enjoy!**

Chapter 7

Alex's POV

"That's the last of them." I say loading the last of the boxes into the truck.

Today is the day the we move to D.C for the next six months. Clint and Natasha flew out yesterday and Steve and I are driving out today with the box's.

"You sure?" ask Pepper.

"Yeah." I say

"If you forgot anything just call and I'll ship it to you." she says.

"Thank you Pepper." I say hugging her.

"You guys sure you don't want us to come down there and help?" ask Tony.

"I think we can manage." says Steve hugging Tony.

"And Clint and Natasha got there okay?" ask Bruce.

"Yeah, they say there place is great so we shall see." I say.

"Drive safe guys." says Tony.

"We will, thanks guys. See you soon, don't get into too much trouble." I say.

The three of them wave to us as we get into the truck and drive off.

"I miss Tony and his snarky comments already." I laugh.

"Six months, that's it." he says grabbing my hand.

"That could go by really fast or really slow." I say.

"We'll have fun." says Steve smiling at me.

"At least we have Clint and Tasha."

"There is always that."

The four hour drive goes by slow and by the time we pull up to Clint and Tasha's place I'm exhausted. From all the packing the last few days the stress is starting to catch up with me. I have a slight headache as well but I push it off. We quickly unload Clint and Natasha's stuff at their apartment and then drive over to where Steve and I's apartment is. We get our stuff unloaded before plopping down on the couch.

"Now we just have to unpack it all." I sigh.

"Later?" Ask Steve putting an arm around me.

"Later." I agree.

"Should we order food?"

"Go for it."

"You okay?" Ask Steve.

"Headache." I feel Steve put his hand on my forehead. "What are you doing"

"You're warm."

"I don't get sick."

" Mhm, where is the thermometer?" Ask Steve getting up.

I sit up and look at him. "Don't bother looking for it I'm not sick."

"Found it." He says grabbing it out of the box. "Open." he says sitting back down next to me.

"This is pointless."

"101."

"It's wrong."

"Keep telling yourself that but you're sick."

"ugh." I put my head on his chest.

"You going to let me take care of you?"

"I don't really have a choice do I?"

"Nope."

"Then why are you asking."

"Trying to be nice."

Two hours later I'm barley awake on the couch and Steve is unpacking boxes.

"Just wait until tomorrow." I say.

"I need to get something done, all the boxes are bugging me."

"Alright, I'm going to bed though."

"Love you." He says kissing my head.

"Love you too." I say smiling.

When I wake up the next morning I feel a thousand times worse than I did last night. My throat hurts, my head is pounding, and my body doesn't want to move. I put my pillow over my head and five minutes later I feel Steve sit on the bed. He starts to lift the pillow off my head but I slam it back down.

"Don't even think about it Rodgers." I grumble.

"So you're not feeling better?"

"Nope."

He lifts the pillow off my head and I glare at him. "If looks could kill." He says smiling.

"I can make that happen." I say.

"You're feisty when you're sick."

"Arguably worse than Natasha." I mumble.

"Do you want anything?"

"Coffee."

"You got it."

He leaves and I sit up and redo my ponytail before taking some medicine and picking up my phone. I have a message from Natasha so I call her back.

"Hello?" She ask picking up the phone.

"Hey." I say.

"I was just checking in, you don't sound good."

"I'm sick."

"Oh that's fun." She laughs.

"Yeah well if you want in just come over I could hook you up."

"Tempting but I think I'll wait."

Just then Steve walks back in and hands me my coffee. "Thank you."

"Steve?" Ask Tasha.

"Brought me coffee."

"Tasha?" Ask Steve.

"Checking in, you know what I'm just putting you on speaker." I say into the phone.

"You guys need anything?" Ask Natasha.

"Nope. Where is Clint?" I ask.

"On a run, left me to unpack." She laughs.

"But you're so good at it." I laugh.

"That's what he said before he left." She says.

"I was supposed to meet him." Says Steve.

"You just remembered didn't you." I laugh.

"Yeah..."

"He'll get over it, serves him right for leaving me here." She laughs. "I'm gotta go but I'll talk to you guys later, feel better Alex."

"Bye Nat." I say.

I hang up the phone and take another sip of my coffee before setting it on the nightstand and leaning on Steve's shoulder.

"Unpacking can wait right?"

"Sure, half of its done anyway."

"You're the best."

"I try."

Two days later I'm back to normal and everything is unpacked. Steve is in a meeting and Natasha and I are training new recruits much to our dislike. Clint got sent on a mission and should be back tonight.

"Go again." I say to two of the agents sparing. "You can't wait for your opponent to attack, you need to act fast."

Natasha is across the room with two others and rolls her eyes at me, they just don't listen.

Это фигня" I mutter under my breath.

"You want to try that in English?" I hear someone say behind me. I turn around to see Steve and I smile at him.

"This is bullshit, they never listen."

He comes and stands next to me. "How'd you two get stuck with this?"

"They thought brining us in would whip them into to shape, no such luck." Just then the one I was critiquing gets thrown on the mat...again...by a girl. He thinks he will win cause he's a guy. "You're done, help me out here Cap." I saying walking into the mat.

"You sure?"

"Get your ass out here." I look to the agents. "You can't always rely on your muscle and strength. Captain Rodgers over here is obviously much bigger than I am but that does not mean he beats me every time."

"You ready?" Ask Steve.

"Always am." I smirk.

Steve comes at me and I dodge him before kicking him to the ground. He gets back up and grabs my arm and slams me to the mat. I kick his leg out from under him and falls right next to me. He turns over to roll in me and puns me but I slip out from under him and push him to the ground before sitting on him. By this time everyone has stopped what they are doing and they are looking at us. I get off of him and he gets up and no one says a thing. Natasha is smirking in the corner.

"And that is why you can't rely on strength all the time, class dismissed." They all leave and I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god that's over."

"I might actually kill one of them." Groans Natasha.

"You guys done?" Ask Steve.

"Yeah, why?"

"I want to take you somewhere." He smiles.

"Natasha you good?" I ask.

"I'm fine, I need to go home anyway. You guys have fun."

The two of us leave and walk down to the parking garage to Steve's bike.

"How was the meeting?" I ask on the elevator.

"Fine, boring."

"Sounds about right." I say kissing him. "Where are we going."

"Well first we are going ask to the apartment but then we are going to see Peggy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, figured it's time for you guys to meet each other since we are engaged and all."

"You might be right." I laugh.

"When am I not." He smirks.

"Well..."

"Ouch."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He laughs.

An hour later we are walking into the nursing home were Peggy is, I'm not going to lie I'm a little nervous.

"When's the last time you saw her." I ask grabbing his hand.

"Right before you joined the team, we have talked on the phone though, she knows about you."

"All good things I hope." I say nervously.

"Of course." He stops and looks at me. "She is going to love you besides I don't need her approval. I just want you to meet her, she is important to me and you are too." He says kissing my head.

"Let's do this." I say smiling at him.

"That's my girl."

We take the elevator up to her floor and when we walk into her room she is sitting in the chair by the window. She looks up and smiles at me.

"You must be Alex." She says.

"Yes." I say shyly.

"I've heard lots about you, it's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Steve why didn't you bring her sooner?"

"Been a little busy." He laughs rubbing his neck."

We sit there talking for two hours. Peggy tells me stories about Steve and I tell her about my family or at least what I remember. When we are done I'm sad to leave. Walking out to the parking lot I have a huge smile on my face.

"Hey smiley what gives?" Ask Steve.

"I really liked her." I say.

"I can tell, I'm glad you liked her. Now what do you say we go get some dinner."

"Sounds great."

I'm starting to actually like D.C.

Steve's POV

Two months in D.C and things are going well. We get called on different missions which keeps us busy so busy intact that I feel like I never see Alex. We try to talk on the phone but it doesn't always work. I get home late one night after being gone for a week to see Alex asleep in bed already, the part I find cute is that she is hugging my pillow. I kiss the top of her head before taking a shower and get ready for bed. When I open the bathroom door my pillow is back in its place. I lay down and Alex wraps her arms around me.

"Welcome home." She says kissing me.

"Did I wake you up?"

"I heard the shower running, I missed you."

"I missed you too, how was your mission with Tasha?"

"It was fine, we got back earlier."

"At least we have the day off tomorrow which means we can spend the whole day together." I say.

"Those plans better include sleeping in."

"Of course."

"Good, I'm going back to sleep now." She mumbles.

"I love you." I whisper.

" я тебя люблю тоже." She whispers.

I love when she speaks in Russian. She usually only does it when she is angry or really tired but I still love it.

A few days later the two of us are sitting in the kitchen when her phone rings.

"I'm so done with this." She says before picking it up. "Agent Hayes...how long?...I'll be in as soon as I can." She hangs up and drops her phone on the table before putting her head in her hands. "I'm leaving for two weeks with Clint."

"We just got back."

"I know but I can't say no I wish I could but I can't."

"I'm sorry."

She looks up at me and smiles. "It's okay, I chose the job. I guess I should go pack."

She gets up from the table and I quickly clean up before going into our room to see her just throwing stuff in a bag.

"Need some help?" I ask.

"No but thank you."

Her mouth says one thing but I know she is frazzled. I grab her bag of guns out of the closet and grab the gun from under her nightstand and put it in there before packing too much amo in her bag. She zips up her other duffle and looks at me.

"Thank you." She says.

"No problem, you ready?"

"Yeah."

I grab her bags and load them in the car and we both get in. We drive over to Shield and Clint and Natasha are there when we get there.

"You ready to go?" Ask Clint.

"Yeah." Says Alex. She turns and looks at me. "I love you." She says kissing me.

"I love you too, be careful."

"Always am, you too."

"Of course."

She goes to say bye to Natasha and I look at Clint.

"Take care of her."

"You got it Cap, you got Tasha?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"Never a problem." I say.

"You ready to go bird brain?" Ask Alex.

"Yes..."

"Bye soldier." She says kissing me one more time.

"Bye."

The next day I'm out for a run. There is only one other person out running, I keep passing them.

"On your left." I say for the third time. The guy just laughs. When I'm done I go up and introduce myself.

"Sam Wilson." He says.

"Steve Rodgers."

"I figured since you just ran three miles in about an hour."

"Slow morning." I laugh.

My phone beeps just then and it's Natasha telling me she is picking me up. Two minutes later she pulls up and I get in the car.

"Can't run everywhere." I laugh.

"Of course not." Laughs Sam.

I get in the car and Natasha smirks at him.

"You're such a flirt." I laugh as she drives away.

"It comes naturally."

"Heard from Clint?"

"No, they are probably fine. I try not to worry."

"I try doesn't mean I succeed."

Things start to go downhill from there. Two days after our mission Fury shows up in my apartment telling me Shield has been compromised. We are talking through his cell phone.

"Hydra has compromised Shield."

"What about agents out in the field?"

"I assume you mean Hayes and Barton, I personally moved them to a safe house that no one knows about. Both are pretty beat up but are being looked after."

"What do we do."

"Just act natural."

The next day he is killed in a car crash. Natasha and I find a flash drive with stuff on it pertaining to Hydra but shield turned on us. Saying we went rogue and can't be trusted so we go under cover. After going to a hydra base that explodes the only place I know to run to is Sam.

"We need a place to crash." I say when he answers the door.

"Come on in.

Natasha and I get cleaned up before sitting in the living room with Sam.

"Steve the guy who shot me, was that..."

"It was Bucky." I say still miffed that my best friend is alive. Alive but brain washed.

"What's going on?" Ask Sam.

"Shield was taken over by Hydra." I say.

"And you two are wanted?" Ask Sam.

"Yup." Growls Natasha.

"Well who is Hydra and who is Shield?"

"The only ones we know for sure are Nat's husband Clint and my fiancée Alex and our handler Maria. But Maria doesn't have much leeway right now and Alex and Clint are off the grid, they were on a mission. All I know is that they are in a safe house somewhere."

"So this is all going to hell."

"Pretty much." Says Natasha.

"I'm here to help." Says Sam.

"You can't be serious." I say.

"I haven't known you long but I know a good guy when I meet one. We gotta stick together so yes I'm here to help."

"Guess we better think of a plan then." Says Natasha.

How do I get myself into these situations?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Alex's POV

As I regain consciousness I slowly become aware of all the pain in my body and I realize I have no idea where I am. My eyes shoot open and the first person I see is Clint. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Where are we and what the hell happened?"

"There's a lot to explain." He says rubbing his neck."

I sit up as best I can and look at him. "Let's start simple then, why do I feel like I was run over by a train?"

"Building exploded as you were coming out, I had to dig to find you. Found a doctor and got you patched up."

"Which leads me to my next question, where are we?"

"That's a long story."

"Well obviously we have time for it."

"Hydra has taken over shield, we got lucky if that's what you want to call it and Fury got us a safe house. But since you have been out fury has been killed and our significant others have managed to get themselves into some deep shit. Both of them are wanted by shield who is actually Hydra and as of last time I talked to Maria they were going to take them down in about two hours. Oh and Bucky is alive."

"Wait like Steve's Bucky?"

"That's the one."

"Holy shit." I whisper.

"It's a lot to process."

"That's more than a lot." I say running my fingers through my hair. "Have you heard from anyone besides Maria?"

"No."

"Okay, we should go help them." I say slightly panicked.

"Calm down Al in case you didn't notice your injured pretty badly."

I look down and realize he is right. My ribs are bandaged and I'm pretty sure I have stitches on my head and I have bruises all over my body.

"Dammit Clint why are you always right."

"I hate being right this time." He sighs.

"So what do we do?"

"We wait."

"I hate waiting."

"So do I."

Three days later we hear from Maria, I guess they were waiting to bring us back till I healed a little more because the same day I woke up they took down Hydra.

"We are heading back." Says Clint.

"And they are okay?"

"Steve landed himself in the hospital but gets out in a few hours and Natasha has a hearing today. Shield is gone, all our covers were leaked on the Internet so here's what happening. Maria is personally flying out here and getting us, she is thirty minutes out. You okay to walk to the meeting spot?"

"Yeah, you good?"

"I'm fine." He says smiling for the first time in a few days. "Let's go home."

"We talking D.C. or New York?"

"New York."

"Even better." I smile.

"Come on, we'll be late."

We slowly make our way to the meeting spot because of me and by the time we get there I'm feeling light headed but sure enough Maria is waiting for us.

The two of us get in the quinjet and the pilot takes off before Maria sits down across from us.

"Are you all caught up to speed on what happened?" She ask.

"Yeah, how's Steve?"

"He's fine now, fully healed. More worried about you than anything. Also a little shocked about Bucky."

"I bet...how long till we get back?"

"At this rate two hours."

"And we don't have jobs." Mumbles Clint.

"We can talk about that after this all blows over, in the mean time enjoy the time off."

"Easier said than done." He says.

"At least you've still got the range." I say.

"I guess."

"You'll be fine Katniss." I laugh using Tony's nickname.

"Oh not you too."

"I'm just kidding with you." I say leaning my head on his shoulder.

"I know, just stressed."he sighs.

"Get that out now, I don't want you to be stressed when we get back, Tasha is probably a stress case as it is."

"Oh I bet, shield was her life, it was all of ours."

"It's not over, just put on hold."

"Yeah...you feeling okay?"

"Yup."

"So no."

"Yup."

"I mean in your defense a building fell on you."

"Wait what happened?" Ask Maria.

"I building exploded as I was walking out."

"And those are the only injuries you got."

"Yeah..."

"Wow."

As Maria predicted we get back two hours later and land on the roof of Stark tower. I walk off with the help of Clint but as soon as I see Steve I forget about him and he quickly walks over to me and carefully pulls me into his arms.

"Rodgers you scared the shit out of me." I say against his chest.

"I'm sorry...I missed you so much, are you okay."

"I'll heal." I pull away and each up and touch his check. "Are you?"

"A little shocked but other wise fine." He says smiling at me. I missed his smile. "What happened to you?"

"A building exploded as I was walking out. Clint got me out and found a doctor. We were cooped up in a safe house for about a week."

"I maybe didn't need to know that."

"I'm okay, just glad to be back. Is our stuff still in D.C.?"

"Tony had it shipped over, that's the other thing he moved some stuff around."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on I'll show you."

Natasha and Clint had already left. They need to be alone right now and I get that. I probably won't see them till tonight if that. Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Thor, and some guy name Sam are all on the community level or at least thats what Steve tells me. He says we will go down later. Steve presses the button for his floor and when we get off nothing seems different but it's Tony.

"Tony took the liberty of moving your stuff up here, Sam is taking your floor. He added an extra room as a dance studio for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, want to check it out?"

"Honestly all I want to do right now is take a shower and then lay down with you, I missed you and I need some quiet time." I say hugging him.

"Okay." He says kissing my head.

I go and shower and then lay down next to Steve and he pulls me closer to him and starts playing with my hair.

"You're stressed, talk to me." I say

"Just thinking."

"About Bucky?"

"Yeah...I just...feel like I need to find him. He ran off, I just have a lot of questions and no answers."

"Then we'll find him, I'll help you. You have a team willing to do anything for you."

"He dangerous."

"All the more reason to have backup."

"You're amazing."

"You're not too bad yourself I smirk.

"god I missed you." He says kissing my forehead.

"I missed you too. So what to do with all this free time you have gotten me."

"Well we do have a wedding we could plan although we don't have to, just a thought."

"Not a bad idea Rodgers." I say playing with his hand.

"We can worry about that later, let's get some sleep."

"You're full of good ideas today." I say closing my eyes.

"Mhm."

Three hours later we both wake up and head down to meet with everyone else to talk about the elephant in the room. We are all out of the job, except Tony. As we get off the elevator I'm attacked by Pepper who gives me a giant hug. Bruce, Thor and Tony all do the same. Nat is next.

"You okay?" I whisper not wanting to make a huge deal about it right now.

"We can talk later." She says. "You good?" She ask concerned.

"Glad to be back and thanks for watching out for him."

"Your welcome." She says releasing me and smiling at me.

I walk over to Steve who is talking to someone who I believe to be Sam.

"Sam? I ask.

"Alex?"

"Yup." I say smiling.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you." he says shaking my hand.

"The same goes for you, thanks for keeping an eye on this one." I say pointing to Steve.

"It was actually the other way around." he laughs.

Just then Tony speaks up. "Look I know we haven't all been in the same room for several months and there is obviously some major catching up to do but why don't we talk about the more pressing issue right now."

We all sit down and we are all quiet for a moment, I speak up first.

"We can't just let this all crash and burn, Shield may not be around right now but the world still needs people to watch over it."

"But how do we do that?" ask Bruce.

"The Avengers stay intact." says Steve.

"Do we all think that's a good idea?" ask Clint.

Everyone nods. "Then it's settled, the Avengers remain a team." says Tony.

"That still doesn't solve the problem of half of us not having a pay check." Says Natasha.

"Well my dear widow here are your options. You can take a job at Stark industries, or you let me take of all that while we get shield up and running." says Tony.

"I think I much prefer the second option." she says back.

"That's what I thought." he says. "Sam you staying man?"

"If I get to help people then sure why not."

"Perfect, do we have any other concerns?" no one says anything. "Perfect I have one last thing I would like to bring up then. Steve and Alex you two have been engaged since before christmas, you two have been through hell since then and have obviously not had time to plan a single thing for your wedding. You two are very obviously in love with each other and I'm assuming you want to have this wedding sooner rather than later, am I correct?"

"Yeah." we both say looking at each other.

"Pepper want to tell them our idea?"

"Sure. So here is what we were thinking. Tony and I have some property in Greece, it's very pretty this time of year. In two weeks we were thinking of flying everyone out for a week and in that time frame you two get married. It's very private, very secluded and it's perfect. You don't have to worry about any of it, it can be totally laid back all you have to do is show up, what do you think?"

I take a moment to look over at Steve who gives me a look that basically says it's up to me. "It sounds amazing, are you guys sure though?"

"We are more than sure, you guys deserve this and lets be honest we all need a vacation." says Pepper.

"Alrighty then." I say.

"Great, we can talk details tomorrow or something but it's going to be amazing." I love Pepper, she always thinking about everyone else.

The rest of the night we sit talking. I get to know Sam more and I really like him and he and Steve get along really well. Steve and I are the first to go up, even though we slept earlier neither one of us is feeling one hundred percent yet. After getting ready for bed I climb in next to him and lay my head on his chest.

"So we are getting married in two weeks."

"I'm excited." he says.

"Me too." We are both quiet for a minute. "After the wedding we are are going to look for Bucky." I say.

"I don't even know where to start. I mean I have some possible leads but it looks like he changes location every couple of days."

"Let me handle that." I say.

"Are you going to hack?"

"Maybe..."

"If it helps us find him then go for it. How did it become so good at that anyway?"

"A good hacker never reveals her secrets." I smirk.

"Oh I see how it is." He laughs.

"All you and anyone else needs to know is that it gets the job done."

"Okay okay."

We sit there in silence a little longer before eventually falling asleep. I wake up three hours later and Steve isn't in bed. I walk out into the hallway and see the light from his studio on. The door is open and his back is turned to me. I quietly walk down there and stand in the doorway. I look around and see more sketches of Bucky and some of me. I don't know how long he's been up but he is working on another one right now. I go stand behind him and see its one of Bucky as the Winter Soldier.

"Steve?"

He turns around and looks at me. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah I just woke up and you weren't there...you okay?"

"Yeah I just...had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep, thought I'd try drawing."

"How long ago was that."

"An hour and a half ago."

"You need to sleep."

"I know..."

"Come on Cap."

He stands up and grabs my hand and we walk back to our room. This continues every night. Some nights I leave him and other nights I force him back to bed. It's the same dream every night. At first no one notices except me but as the days go on the team starts to notice. It's not till my bachorlette party the day before we leave that anyone brings it up with me.

"Is Steve okay, he seems out of it." Ask Natasha handing me another beer.

Pepper sits down across from us next to Jane who I absolutely love and she says something too."I've noticed that too. Obviously he is stressed but is there something else?"

"He hasn't been sleeping,at all. He gets four hours a night at most, it's just catching up to him."

"Is there anything we can do?" Ask Pepper.

"No, not unless one of you can get rid of nightmares. He just has to work through it which sucks but it's the only way."

"Well hopefully he is having a good time tonight and that will take his mind off of it." Says Jane.

"Tony and Clint are probably having the most fun." I laugh.

"Sometimes I wonder if I actually married a five year old trapped in a adults body." Says Natasha.

"I fully understand that." Says Pepper.

We don't really do anything, just talk which is nice. There is a lot of drinking on Natasha and I's part. Not too much but just enough that I can tell I might have overdone it a little.

Steve's POV

It's the day we leave for Greece and when I got up to shower Alex was still asleep and when I walk out of the bathroom she is still asleep. We have to leave in thirty minutes and she is not a morning person,especially after she has been drinking. I bend down and kiss her forehead.

"Alex you gotta get up." I say.

She opens her eyes and I'm orderly closes them again. "When are we leaving?"

"Thirty minutes."

"So I actually have to get up."

"Yeah, here's the deal, you go shower and get ready and I'll make you coffee."

"Fine." She throws the blankets off and sits up and runs her head. "Damn it I had too much." She mumbles.

"I'll make that a coffee with a side of Advil."

"Your the best." She says kissing me.

I grab our bags and leave them by the counter while I make coffee. She comes out twenty minutes later ready to go. She swallow the meds and takes the coffee from my hand.

"Thank you."

"You ready?"

"Yup."

We head up to the roof and get into Tony's jet where everyone else is waiting. We sit down across from Clint and Natasha who look just as miserable as Alex. I have to laugh a little.

"Alright now that we are all here." Tony is cut off by Natasha.

"Just a little quieter Stark or I might come over there and make you."

"Good morning to you too Natasha, glad to see you had fun last night. Anyway I think we are ready for take off so sit back and relax. Let me know if you need anything."

"He is being overly nice this morning." Mumbles Alex.

"He's excited to go." Says Clint taking a sip of his coffee.

"You three look miserable." I laugh a little.

"Not all of us can get alcohol out of our system as fast as you." Says Alex.

"Yeah I see that." I say.

"Never mind that, did you sleep last night?" She ask.

"Surprisingly yes."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No."

"Good."

The rest of the flight is pretty quiet. Sam and I talk over where we think we should start looking for Bucky. He is going to help Alex and I look for him. We are starting right after the wedding. Once we land Tony tells everyone where their rooms are and we go change to hang out in the beach. Alex, Sam and I are the first ones down there and Alex and I decide to go for a walk.

"We'll be back." She says over her shoulder while grabbing my hand.

"Have fun." Says Sam.

We walk off and ten minutes later I look over at Alex who looks deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

"Not much...just wish my family was here."

We don't talk about her family much, she doesn't like to but when she does its cause she really misses them.

"I know you do."

"It didn't even have to be all of them. I miss my dad the most, I was such a daddy's girl." She says smiling slightly.

"What else do you remember."

"I wish more, I don't even remember much to begin with but everyday the memories slip further and further from me."

"He'd be proud of you, they all would be."

"I don't know about that."

"You doubt yourself too much. Think about it, you save people lives for a living. You have your past but that's all it is, the past. You can't go back and change it. You've made a new life for yourself, you turned everything around. You have so many people that care about you and for once in your life you're happy, truly happy, not that smile you put on your face when when Maria tells you to do something and you plaster it on so she doesn't feel bad. You have every right to be happy and you know what when you're happy I'm happy. I get more joy out of seeing a genuine smile on your face than anything else in this world."

She stops and looks at me. "Steven Rodgers you are the reason behind those genuine smiles. You make me happy."

"I love you." I say kissing her.

"I love you too."

"I sure hope so cause we are getting married at the end of the week."

"It cant come fast enough." she says as we keep walking.

"You're going to be stuck with me." I laugh.

"There is no one I would rather be stuck with."

"I couldn't agree more."

"Well that's nice to know." she laughs.

A few minutes later we turn around and walk back to everyone else. Bruce, Tony, Clint, and Natasha are finishing up a game of volleyball,Pepper and Jane are talking, and Sam and Thor are chilling in the water. For once we look like a group of normal people. The rest of the day is spent relaxing on the beach and we all have a nice quiet dinner that night. The night goes great until we go to bed. Alex wakes up from a nightmare and its a bad one. Before I can even ask her any questions she is in the bathroom throwing up. I quickly get up and go in there and hold her hair back for her. When she is done she leans back on me.

"Are you okay?" I whisper as I run my hand up and down her arm.

She just shakes her head no. I help her up and she rinses her mouth out before crawling back in bed. I get in on my side and pull her into my lap.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I can't talk about this." she whispers.

"Alex..."

"I just dreamt about my parents death, I just re watched the whole thing happen, they were murdered in front of me again." she says her voice shaky.

I pull her closer to me and I can feel her tears through my shirt. "I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry." I whisper.

"I couldn't save them." she whispers.

"It wasn't your fault."

She has a death grip on me and I just keep holding her. At some point her grip loosens and I feel her relax. I look down to see she is asleep again. I gently lay down with her and make sure is is soundly asleep before going back to sleep myself. When I wake up in the morning Alex is still asleep so I leave her there and head out into the kitchen to grab some coffee. Everyone else is already out there.

"Morning guys." I say as I pour my coffee.

"Alex still sleeping?" ask Natasha.

"Yeah, she didn't sleep well last night." I say sitting next to her.

"Nightmare?" Ask Clint.

"It was bad." I sigh.

"First you now her, you guys can't catch a break." says Sam.

"It'll even out eventually."

"Steve you want some pancakes." ask Pepper from the stove.

"That would be great, thanks Pepper."

"No problem."

As I finish my breakfast Alex walks out and comes and sits in my lap. I wrap my arms around her.

"Hey gorgeous, you feeling better."

"A little." she smiles at me.

I kiss her head. "You hungry?"

"Not really."

"Alex you want some coffee?" ask Natasha.

"Sure." she says smiling at her. Those two are more like sisters than friends.

"Ваши родители?" Ask Natasha handing Alex her coffee."

"Да уж."

"You two want to try english?" ask Tony.

"Not particularly right now no." mumbles Alex.

I never ask about what they are saying, I just like listening to Alex speak in Russian, I also like when she speaks in French but that doesn't happen often.

"I need to do something, can we go on a run?" She ask me.

"Of course."

She gets up and we go change before going on a run around most of the island. She is the type that needs to be active when something is bothering her. Thankfully after our run she seems almost back to normal, I hope she can stay that way the rest of the week.

So up next is the wedding! please review and let me know what you want to see, I'm totally up for suggestions for the next chapter. Thanks guys?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Alex's PO

The day of the wedding comes faster than I expected it too. Steve and I slept in different rooms the night before as per request of pretty much everyone so when I wake up I'm by myself. I get up and stretch and when I look out the window I see Sam and Steve running on the beach. I have to smile a little. Even on vacation he has to workout every morning. There is a knock on the door and Natasha comes in with two coffees and hands it to me before looking out the window too.

"Those two." She laughs.

"Well he lost his other running buddy this morning." I laugh.

"True."

"Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem, how'd you sleep?"

"Really well actually, no nightmare last night."

"Good, I'm sorry those came back."

"It is what it is." I say. "Some stuff just triggers them. I just got thinking about them the other day and they started happening again."

"I get that."

"So what's the plan today?"

"No idea, Pepper knows. I just do what I'm told." She laughs.

"That's a first." I smirk.

"Mhm."

"Hey Nat?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything, I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You would have been fine, I wouldn't change any of it though." She says smiling at me.

"If I can't have my family I'm glad I have you."

"We are all your family, we don't replace your family we just add to it."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

Natasha and I hang out for an hour. We are laying on the bed laughing when Pepper burst into the room. The two of us sit up and look at her.

"Yes?"

"We have work to do." She says.

"Okay Pepper take a deep breath and relax, we are not on a time crunch that's the beauty of doing this here. It'll happen when it happens."

"We need to be ready roughly by 5." She says.

"That's fine, where is Jane?"

"Darcy called her, she'll be here in a little while."

We wanted Darcy to come but she had some stuff at school to finish so she had to skip.

"Alright let's get going." Says Pepper.

"I'm going to shower, I'll be back." Says Natasha.

"I need to shower too." I say getting up.

"What were you two doing all morning." Laughs Pepper.

"Goofing around." I say.

"Well time to get moving."

"Okay okay."

I go into the bathroom and start the shower. When I'm done I put on shorts and a tank top and start to do my makeup. I'm letting my hair stay natural, Steve loves my natural waves. I'm in the middle of doing my makeup when my phone rings. I look down and see its Steve. I answer and put in on speaker.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey yourself, how you doing?"

"I'm good, I miss you."

"Well according to Pepper we only have about three hours."

"She has it all planned." I laugh

"At least someone does." He laughs.

"True, how was your run this morning?"

"How did you..."

"I saw you and Sam."

"Ah, it was fine."

"Just fine?"

"I missed by running buddy."

"I see."

"You sure I can't just come and see you real quick?"

"Pepper would have a cow."

"Alright."

"Go get ready." I say.

"Yes ma'am." He laughs.

"Love you Soldier."

"Love you too gorgeous."

"See you later."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

I finish my makeup and then fix my hair before changing into my dress. It's not an actual wedding dress, it's just a white flowy dress. The whole thing is very casual. The guys are wearing shorts and polo shirts and the girls are just wearing casual dresses. There is no point in paying a lot of money for a dress you'll only wear once and as much as I love Steve in a tux I want this low key. We decided to have Bruce marry us, he was happy to do it. As I'm putting my shoes on Natasha, Pepper, and Jane all walk in.

"You look gorgeous." Says Pepper.

"The dress looks really pretty on you." Says Jane.

"Thanks guys." I say smiling.

"You ready?" Ask Natasha.

"Yup."

"We'll see you down there." Says Pepper as she and Jane walk out.

"One last thing." Says Natasha.

"What do you mean."

"I know you're sad your dad isn't here so we thought Clint could walk you down aisle." She says smiling.

"You guys are the best." I say.

"You're the only person I would do this for." She laughs.

"Thank you."

"No problem, now let's go. Don't want to keep Steve waiting."

"Alright."

The two of us walk downstairs to the living room were Clint is waiting. Natasha hugs me.

"I'll see you down there." She smiles.

"You ready?" Ask Clint.

"Yeah."

The two of us walk down to the beach. The sun is just starting to set and it's beautiful. Everyone else is already down there. As we get closer my eyes are only focused on Steve. He is smiling so big, god I love him. Once we get up there I let go of Clint and grab Steve's hand.

"You look amazing." He whispers.

"Thanks."

Bruce starts the ceremony and I want nothing more that for it to be over, I want to be married to him already. We decided not to write our own vows, with everything that happened recently we wanted it to be simple. We tell each other all of what we would have said anyway. Once Bruce is done we kiss and it's the most electric kiss we have ever shared. When we break apart I lean my forehead on his and I smile.

"Я тебя люблю." I whisper to him, it's the one thing he understands.

"I love you too." He says.

Everyone congratulates us before heading back up to the house, Steve and I decide to stay down on the beach to finish watching the sunset. We sit down in the sand and I lean my head on his shoulder.

"We're married." I whisper.

"I can't believe it." He says grabbing my hand.

"Get used to it Rodgers."

"Not sure the nickname works anymore." He laughs.

"I'm sticking with it." I say kissing his cheek. "Where are we heading tomorrow?"

"Sam and I think he is somewhere in France, Tony is letting us take the jet to Paris in the morning."

"Sounds good." I say.

"You sure you want to do this?" He ask.

"Of course I'm sure, I want to help you, I know how much he means to you."

"You're amazing." He says kissing my head.

"So we have said before." I laugh.

"You're asking to take a little dip right now." He laughs.

"Bring it Cap."

And before I can stop him he picks me and walks over to the water and sets me down. I look at him and splash him and laugh at his reaction. He splashes me next and by the end of it we are both really wet. The bottom of my dress is drenched but I don't care. He comes over with his arms up.

"Truce?"

"Yeah." I laugh.

He comes over and lifts me up in his arms and kisses me.

"How did I get so lucky?" he says kissing me again.

"You're such a sap sometimes." I smirk.

"But you love me anyway."

"I do, now why don't we head back up."

"Sounds good."

The two of us head back up to the house where everyone else is waiting. We all sit down for dinner and the liquor flows freely. As the night goes on everyone has more and more fun. The feeling of normality seems to have done everyone some good. Slowly everyone starts to go to bed one by one until it's just Steve, Sam, and I.

"Ready for France?" I ask the boys.

"I hear there is great food." Says Sam.

"That there is." I say.

"She speaks French you know." Says Steve.

"No way." Say Sam.

"Ben oui." I say.

"What else do you speak?"

"The obvious Russian, Spanish, and Mandarin."

"Impressive." He says.

"Спасибо." I say.

"What does that..."

"Thank you." Says Steve.

"Ah you're picking it up." I smile.

"I try." He says.

"Alright I'm headed to bed, see you guys tomorrow." Says Sam getting up.

"Night Sam." We both say.

After Sam leaves Steve pulls me into his lap and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"It's been a good day." I say.

"Amazing." He says.

"I love you." I say kissing him.

"I love you too." He says deepening the kiss. We sit on the couch a little longer before he stops. "Bedroom?"

"Good idea." Once we get there I close the door and look at him. "No where were we?"

Steve's POV

The next morning I wake up I see Alex still asleep next to me. I can't believe I get to call her my wife. I check the clock on the nightstand and see its almost 11, we need to get going. I kiss Alex's forehead and she stirs awake.

"Steve Rodgers there better be a good reason you're waking me up."

I laugh a little. "Well we have places to be."

"I like that." she smiles.

"So do I."

"What time is it?"

"Eleven."

"And you are just now waking me up?"

"I just got up myself."

"I'm going to shower, do you have all your stuff together?"

"Not yet."

"Then pack." she says getting up.

I grab her arm. "Not so fast." I say kissing her. "Alright now you can go."

"You're spoiled." she smirks.

"It's your fault." I say as she closes the bathroom door.

I pack up my stuff and wait for her to come out before showering myself. We grab our stuff and head to the kitchen where we can hear everyone else.

"Look who decided to join us." says Tony.

"Over slept." says Alex.

"Mhm."

"You guys almost ready to go?" ask Sam.

"Yeah, let me just grab some coffee." I say.

"Wait you guys are leaving already?" ask Pepper.

"I know it's soon but Bucky seems to only stay in spots for a week tops, he has already been in France for three days." I say.

"When do you guys think you'll be back?" ask Bruce.

"Hopefully in the next couple weeks, could be longer." says Alex.

"You'll let us know if you need help?" ask Natasha.

"Yeah." I say.

"If he is closer to us than you guys, let us know." says Clint.

"Will do." I say.

"You guys be safe."says Jane.

"Always are." Alex and I say.

"Debatable." says Tony.

"Goodbye friends." Says Thor hugging us.

"Bye man, see you soon."

We say our goodbyes before heading out to the jet. The three of us settle in before Alex pulls out her laptop.

"Whatcha doin?" I ask looking over her shoulder.

"Trying to access his records." she says typing away.

"That would require you to hack into Hydra." says Sam.

"I know, I have gotten pretty good at going undetected in their system."

"What else can she do?" ask Sam.

"She is an amazing dancer."

"I dabble." she says still working.

"Incredibly modest."

"Damn Cap you got lucky."

"Yes I did."

"I'm trying to work I need you both to shut up for like two seconds while I find his records."

"Yes ma'am we both say.

Sam smirks and I laugh a little. Two minutes later she finds them.

"Still in France." She says.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"Not that I can see, I'll keep an eye on things and let you know if I find anything important."

" Sounds good, we need to think about what we do if we actually find him." I say.

"I'm letting you handle him." Says Alex.

"He's your friend, if anyone can get to him it's you." Says Sam.

"That was easy." I say.

"It's not rocket science." Laughs Alex.

"You're quiet the smartass today." I laugh.

"I know." she smirks.

Once we get to Paris we get a cab to take us to our hotel and we check in. Alex and I go up to our room and Sam goes to his promising to come up in a little while to check in. Once we get to our room I lay down on the bed and close my eyes feeling exhausted. Alex sits down next to me and runs her hand through my hair.

"You okay?" She ask.

"Just weird to be doing this." I say.

"I know but Sam and I are here to help and the team if we need them."

"Yeah."

"We're going out tonight." She says.

"Where?"

"I know a great little place not too far from here."

"We are leaving Sam alone?"

"It was his idea." She laughs. "You're always so concerned about everyone else, for once just relax." She says smiling at me.

"Okay."

"That wasn't so hard was it?"

"I guess not." I smirk.

"You going to be ready to go soon?"

"Yeah." I say sitting up.

The two of us leave a few minutes later and walk to dinner. When we get there we sit outside. The restaurant is nice and secluded which means it's quiet. Despite being on vacation for the past week the two of us haven't had much alone time especially yesterday.

"Finally alone." I say smiling at her.

"I have you all to myself." She says grabbing my hand.

"So what's good here?" I ask.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then it'll be a surprise."

"Sounds good to me."

Just then the waiter comes over and Alex orders.

"Nous aurons le poulet rôti et deux verres de vin se il vous plaît." She says it as if French is her first language.

"Oui Madame." Says the waiter walking away.

I smile at her. "What?" She ask.

"I just love when you speak in different languages."

"You don't understand half of it." She laughs.

"I still like it."

"It comes in handy." She says.

"I'm sure."

"You know as much as I liked having some time off I'm glad to be doing something, I get restless if I don't."

"We'll rebuild shield, it's just a matter of getting the right people."

"I know, it's not going to be easy."

"But we'll get it done, it's important to you and several others I might add."

"No telling what you can get done when you put your mind to it Cap." She laughs.

"I'm a determined person."

"Oh I know."

Dinner comes a few minutes later, it's amazing. It's nice finally spending some time alone with her. Once we are done I pay and we go to walk back to the hotel. When we get there we go up Sam's room. He is watching TV with the lights off.

"When we get back I'm getting you a girlfriend." Says Alex sitting next to him.

"Fine by me." he laughs.

"So tomorrow lets plan on meeting downstairs by 9, sound good?" I ask.

"Yeah, we just going to look?" ask Sam.

"He is on an assignment. If we find who is looking for we find him." says Alex.

"And you know who we are looking for?" ask Sam.

"Of course." she says.

"Sounds good to me, how was dinner?"

"Great." I say.

"We had fun." says Alex.

"Good." says Sam.

We sit there talking a little longer and then Alex and I head up to our room and head to bed. The next six days we come up short, we found who he was looking for but we never find Bucky. Alex does some more digging to find out where he is going next.

She lets out a sigh. "What?" I ask.

"Russia." she says.

"Oh."

"What's wrong with Russia?" ask Sam.

"It's a long story." I say.

"Ever heard of the Red Room?" ask Alex.

"Yeah..."

"That was my childhood." says Alex.

"That's not a childhood." says Sam.

"I know."

"They got her last year on a mission with Natasha. It took a few months for us to get her back to normal." I say.

"I see the problem with Russia now." he says.

"What do you want to do?" I ask Alex.

"Of course I want to go so we can find him I just need to be...careful."

"You sure, I don't want you to feel like you have to do this."

"Of course I'm sure."

"Alright then lets get packed up."

We pack our bags and take the next train to Russia. Sam falls asleep thirty minutes across from us so it's just Alex and I. Alex leans her head on my shoulder and sighs.

"We need to be careful." she says.

"You're worried." I say.

"Yeah..."

"It's going to be fine." I say grabbing her hand.

"I sure hope so."

She is quiet most of the way there, I know she is worried but I've got her back, so does Sam. When we get there we get a cab to a hotel and we set up shop. We have a two room suit this time so that it's easier to talk. Sam and I are sitting on the couch talking and I can hear Alex in the other room talking on the phone in Russian, I think she is talking to Natasha.

"Who is she talking too?" Ask Sam.

"Probably Natasha." I say.

"Those two are close."

"She and Clint got Alex out of the Red Room a year after Natasha escaped, Natasha is like a sister to her."

"So should we be concerned about the Red Room?"

"I mean it's always a possibility but I'm not overly worried about it. Alex is worried enough for the three of us."

"She really does not like coming back does she?"

"Not at all."

Later that night I'm sleeping when I start to have a nightmare about what happened last year when Alex came back. All I see is her bloodied body when we found her and I start having flashbacks of everything that happened after, finding her apartment with blood all over the floor, the cuts on her arms. I wake up after that and when my eyes open the first thing I see is Alex sitting up in bed.

"You too?" She ask.

"Yeah." I say sitting up. "How long have you been up?"

"Ten minutes." She says leaning her head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I say putting an arm around her.

"Steve I thought I could do this, I wanted to do this for you but I can't, I can't handle being back here." The words I was waiting to hear.

"I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do. Do you know where Bucky is going to be next?"

"London."

"Then we will leave for London in the morning. Honestly after that dream I don't want to be here either."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." I say kissing her head.

"I don't want you to feel like I'm holding you back." She says.

"I never think that, I'm glad to have you here with me."

"I love you." She whispers.

"I love you too."

"Let's go back to sleep." She says.

"Come here." I say pulling her closer to me.

We both lay down and drift off to sleep finally having some peace of mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Alex's POV

As Steve promises we end up leaving for London the next morning, Sam understands our hesitation and luckily doesn't ask any questions as to how we came to the conclusion to go ahead and leave. As soon as the train goes over the boarder I feel an immediate weight lifted off my shoulders. After a few days of relaxing in London we finally get to work. Bucky has arrived and this time we are going to find him.

Three days into our search I'm sitting in a cafe on surveillance while Sam and Steve are in two other locations doing the same thing when I see Bucky.

"I've got eyes on him." I say into my com link.

"You better not be kidding." says Sam.

"I'm not, look to your right birdy."

"Oh that's him all right." he says back.

"Steve do you see him?" I ask.

"I got him, Alex try and follow him, don't let him see you though. Sam and I will come in and we can close him in."

"Got it." I say getting up.

"Be careful okay?"

"Always am."

I walk out and follow about 15 feet behind Bucky. He doesn't notice me yet. I can see Steve walking towards us and Sam walks across the street. Bucky turns down and alley and I'm cautious as we walk by but he grabs my arm.

"Who sent you here?" He whispers.

I don't answer and luckily Steve turns the corner with Sam.

"Buckley let her go." Says Steve.

"Why should I?"

"Cause that's my wife." Says Steve through gritted teeth.

Bucky throws me towards him and Steve catches me.

"I think he likes me." I say sarcastically.

"Let me handle him." Say Steve.

"Steve I don't want to talk." Says Bucky.

"I need answers."

"You're not getting any."

"So you're just going to leave your best friend hanging."

"You don't get it Steve."

"You're Bucky I don't get how my best friend could become the most violent self centered person on this planet."

"Steve..." Whispers Bucky.

"No Bucky, one second you're trying to kill me and the next you're saving me. Do you realize you're working for the same people we were trying to stop!" Yells Steve.

The next minutes goes by in a flash. Bucky pulls out a gun and aims it at Steve. As he pulls the trigger I push Steve out of the way. What did not go through my head however is the fact that it would hit me. I was more focused on making sure my husband didn't die. It hits me in the shoulder, something I've handled before but at the time it hurts. A scream escapes my lips and Steve looses it. Bucky looks stunned and starts to run. Steve catches me and looks at me.

"Why did you do that?"

"We can discuss that later, go get him. I'm fine."

Steve lets go and runs after Bucky and I look at Sam.

"Let's head back to the hotel, I'm going to need you to get this bullet out."

"Yeah..." Says Sam.

We start walking back, luckily it's only a 10 minutes walk.. Thankfully I'm wearing a black jacket so no one can see the blood. Once we get back Sam helps me take that off and it hurts like hell. He grabs some alcohol and supplies to get the bullet out and stitch it while I take my shirt off.

"What were you thinking?" He says pouring the alcohol on the wound.

"Shit Sam a little warning." I say through gritted teeth. "I was trying to make sure my husband didn't die, clearly nothing else was going through my head." I say.

"I'm going to pull it out, you ready?"

"Pass me that vodka first." I take it in one sip. "Go."

The digging around is painful but once he finally gets it out I can finally breath again. He stitches it up and bandages it before finally finishing.

"Done."

"Thanks." I say.

"No problem, no go put a shirt on, I don't think Steve would appreciate his friend sitting with his wife who has her shirt off."

"Good idea."

I walk into Steve and I's room and change into shorts and one of Steve's t-shirts, I'm not going anywhere else today. I walk into the living room of our suit to see Sam hanging up his phone.

"He's on his way back."

"Good." I say laying down on the couch. Nothing like getting shot to take it out of you.

"Stitches okay?"

"You did a good job." I say.

Fifteen minutes later Steve walks in and slams the door. I was halfway asleep but that woke me up.

"Steve..." I say.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sam got it out."

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't and I know that so why don't we skip the argument." I say.

"Fine." He sighs sitting on the floor against the couch.

"Did you find him?"

"And kicked his ass for shooting my wife, he let me too. He knows he messed up." He smirks.

"Did you talk to him?" Ask Sam.

"Yeah, I mean in between punches he would throw stuff in. He feels like he doesn't have a choice, I told him where to find me if he ever changes his mind."

"So Cap can get angry." Laughs Sam.

"Doesn't happen often." He says

"So what now?"I ask sitting up to make room for Steve.

"We go home." Says Steve.

"We have been gone for almost a month." Says Sam.

"Sounds good." I say yawning.

"Are you wearing my shirt?" Ask Steve.

"Yeah."

"What's wrong with your clothes?" He laughs.

"Nothing I just really like this shirt."

"Are we going to have Tony send the jet?" Ask Sam.

"It's already here?" I say.

"What?"

"He had it stay in London so that when we were ready to leave it was available to us a soon as possible, we will leave in the morning." Says Steve.

"Wow."

"Yeah." I laugh.

After dinner we all head off to go pack. I sit on the bed while Steve packs, my stuff is already in my bag.

"You okay?" I ask him.

"You know what I actually am, I mean I got the answers I was looking for."

"You're not disappointed that he didn't come with us?"

"I don't want to push him, he'll come when he's ready. He's still trying to get his memories back." He zips his bag up and looks at me. "How's your shoulder? And answer me honestly."

"It hurts it obviously is going to but Sam did a good job." I say.

"Can I see it?"

"If you rewrap it." I laugh.

He helps me take my shirt of before he unwraps it and runs his fingers over it.

"He got you good." He says.

"Yeah."

"You're right, Sam did a good job with the stitches."

"It should heal nicely." I say.

"Yeah." He says rewrapping it for me. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay too." I say kissing him.

"We just like getting in trouble don't we." He laughs.

"I love it." I say smirking.

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

"I know." Just then my phone rings, it's Natasha. I answer and put her on speaker. "Hey." I say.

"You're on speaker." She says.

"So are you." I laugh.

"Hi guys." I hear Clint say.

"Hi birdbrain."

"What are you guys up to?" Ask Natasha.

"Packing." I say.

"Where you guys going now?" Ask Clint.

"Home." Says Steve.

"Wait why?" Ask Natasha.

"Do you want the long version or short version?" I ask.

"What happened." She sighs.

"Well we found Bucky but he kinda shot at Steve but it hit me in the shoulder instead. Steve ran after him and beat the crap out of him. They talked though."

"Only you Alex." says Clint.

"It was either my shoulder or Steve's heart, you choose." I say.

"Steve did you guys at least talk?" ask Natasha.

"Yeah, I told him if he ever changes his mind about what he is doing he can come to us. He may be the Winter Soldier but he is still my best friend. He is starting to get his memories back."

"Hows the shoulder?" Ask Natasha.

"It'll heal." I say.

"Well we have a meeting with Maria so we need to go but we just wanted to check in, I'm glad you guys are coming home." says Natasha.

"Me too." I say.

"Talk to you guys later." say Clint.

"Bye." Steve and I say.

The next morning we head to the airport and board the jet. Once we take off Sam and Steve pull out books and I pull out my computer. I need to actually weed through my files that were leaked. I look up my name and look at my file.

Name: Alexandria Sharapov

Birthplace: Moscow, Russia

Date of Birth: May 17th, 1980

Parents: N/A

Siblings: N/A

Prior Training: Red Room

Agent Status: Level 10

Teams: Strike Team Delta, The Avengers

Known Names: Alex Hayes

Weapons of Choice: Hand to hand combat, Guns

Kills: over 300

"What are you looking at?" ask Steve.

"My file." I sigh. "It's all out there."

"Mine is too." he says to make me feel better.

"Yeah but you don't have over three hundred kills."

"That's in the past Alex, you can't go back and change it and most of them you had no control over."

"I know you're right it's still a hard reality."

"Just pretend like it's not out there." He says.

"Easier said than done."

"Just try."

The flight is uneventful until we hit some turbulence, I really hate flying.

"You never told me why you hate flying." Say Steve.

"My first mission for the Red Room our plane crashed, I was the only one to make it out."I say not wanting to go into detail.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So I shouldn't take you for a ride with the wings sometime." Says Sam.

"Nope, I would have your head off before you could get in the air. Tony tried something like that on a mission, he had to build a new suit."

"So what you're saying is don't make you angry?" He laughs.

"Precisely."

Once we land Happy drives us back to the tower. We take the elevator up to the common floor and when the doors open I see the last thing I ever expected to see. Coulson.

"Someone explain to me what the hell is going on." I say.

"That's the first thing I said." Says Clint walking over to us.

"Tony I swear if this is your attempt at some sick joke I'm going to kill you."

"Agent Hayes it's good to see you." Says Fury.

"It's Rodgers now." I say. "I thought you died." I whisper looking at Coulson.

"Phil?" Ask Steve.

"In the flesh." He says smiling at us.

My first reaction is to be angry, why would they hide this from us, but at the same time it's my mentor. He trained me, made me the person I am today. He helped me turn my life around.

"He never died, we managed to save him." Says Maria.

"I need some air." I say walking past everyone to the patio. Steve follows me out.

"Alex..."

"They lied to me, to all of us."

"There has to be a reason." He says.

"I can't find a single reason on this earth to tell a lie like that."I say bitterly.

"You need to hear them out." He says pulling me in his arms.

"This is not what I was expecting to come home too, if I had some time to prepare I would have been fine but we didn't get any warning." I say against his chest.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Let's get this over with." I say grabbing his hand and walking inside.

We walk in and Natasha, Clint, and Bruce are all sitting on the couch. Tony and Sam have the other couch occupied and Pepper must be at work. Maria, Fury, and Phil are all standing.

"Are you going to listen now?" Ask Fury.

"Yes." I say sitting down in Steve's lap in the chair.

"We couldn't tell you that Coulson was alive because we needed him for a new project. But now that Shield is gone we have no choice but to move forward with it. Along with the Avengers we have another team put together to help build Shield again." Says Maria

"And you are 100% sure of their loyalty?" I ask.

"Yes." Says Phil.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't know you were alive." Says Steve.

"Part of it was that we needed something to push you guys during New York but It happened to be at the same time I was getting hints of Hydra. I needed a backup plan in case it all crashed and burned, I knew I could trust Phil to run this so I needed him off the radar, the only way was to fake his death." Says Fury.

"So we are rebuilding Shield?" I ask.

"Yes." Says Fury.

"Okay..."

"I know you guys just got back so you guys get settled and we can talk more in a few days." Says Maria.

"Thanks." Says Steve.

The three of them go to leave but I need to do something first.

"Phil." I say walking over to them. He stops and I hug him, and he hugs me back."I needed to know you were real." I whisper.

"I'm not going anywhere." He whisper back. "Congratulations by the way, on everything. You deserve it."

"You helped me get here." I say smiling.

"Now go and be with your team, I'll be back in a few days."

"Okay." I say letting go, I forgot about my shoulder and now it's throbbing.

"I'm proud of you." He says.

"Thank you."

The three of them get on the elevator and when the door closes I turn around to look at everyone. Bruce is the first to speak up.

"What did you do to your shoulder?"

"How did you..."

"It looks stiff when you move it."

"I got shot..."

"Only you." he laughs.

"Did you guys know about that?" I ask walking over to them.

"Found out yesterday." Says Natasha. "There was some yelling involved."

"Honestly I'm more shocked than anything" I say.

"It'll pass." Says Clint.

Tony comes back in the room smiling. "Pepper is picking up schwarma." He says smiling.

"It's the important things." Laughs Sam.

Pepper gets back an hour later with dinner and we all sit down in the living room. After dinner Steve and I go up to our floor ready to get some sleep and as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm out.

Steve's POV

When I wake up in the morning Alex isn't in bed but I do hear music coming from her studio. I allow myself to wake up a little more before walking down the hallway to her studio. I open the door and she stops to look at me.

"Morning." she says coming over and kissing me.

"How long have you been up?" I ask.

"About an hour and a half." she says turning the music off. "Stupid jet lag." she mutters.

"Sorry." I say smirking at her.

"Whatever." She laughs. "You and I have a mission tonight." She says.

"How?"

"Fury got a tip about an arms dealer, I need you as backup."

"And how are you getting info?"

"He goes to a club in the Upper East Side every Friday."

"Not sure I like where this is headed." I say.

"We'll just have Tony do it instead, he is very persuasive." She laughs as we walk to the kitchen.

"Better than you doing it."

"I'll take what I can get right now." She says.

"Fine, I don't like sharing though." I say pulling her towards me.

"I don't blame you." she laughs. "Now let go, I need coffee, also we may want to make our own breakfast seeing as it's only 8 o'clock on a saturday."

"You make some valid points." I say kissing her head.

That night I'm waiting in the living room with Clint who agreed to back us up. Natasha was meeting with Coulson about his new team. Alex walks out in a short tight dress and heels, she looks amazing but I hate that she has to wear it to seduce other men, dangerous men I might add.

"You're killing me." I say

"Sorry babe, part of the job." she says kissing my cheek.

"You and Natasha are a little too good at these missions." says Clint.

"Yeah well... you could say it was Red Room training, now are you guys ready I want to get this over with."

"So do I." I say as we walk to the elevator. "Do you have a gun?"

"Of course but I'm not going to need it."

"Good answer." I say.

Once we get to the club I take a seat at the bar while Clint goes up to the second floor. Alex goes over to the V.I.P section to where the arms dealer is and gets let in, she had an appointment you could say. I don't take my eyes off of her afraid that if I do something will happen.

"Steve calm down man, you're going to pop a vein." Says Clint into the com link.

"She's got the injured shoulder." I say looking up at him for a split second before returning my gaze to Alex.

"She can handle herself, she is doing great."

"I know..."

"Don't sound to confident." laughs Clint.

Just then the arms dealer goes with his men and Alex to a back room. She glances over her shoulder to look at me and gives me a look saying she is fine. Once the door closes.

"How much time do you want to give her?" ask Clint.

"I'm giving it five minutes." I say.

"You want to go in right now don' you."

"Yeah..."

"I get it, I'm the same way with Tasha."

Three minutes later she quickly walks out and grabs my arm pulling me out the door, Clint is close behind us.

"We have five minutes till they wake up so we need to go but I got everything." she says.

"Good. Are you okay?" I ask.

"I pulled my stitches."

"Bruce can redo them." I say as we get in the car. Clint gets in the driver seat and I sit in the passenger side while Alex sits in the back. "How bad is it bleeding?" I ask looking at her.

"Pretty good." she says.

"Did you pull your stitches?" ask Clint.

"Yeah.' she says.

"How'd you manage that?"

"I got pinned to a wall, fought my way out, and then threw some gas to make them pass out so that they couldn't follow me, my shoulder was not exactly the first thing on my mind."

Right then we pull up to the tower and head up to Bruce and Tony's lab to find them hard at work on a new suit.

"Bruce I tore my stitches, I need you to redo them." She says.

"Who sent you on a mission?" he ask motioning for her to sit down.

"Fury, we are kind of short staffed in case you haven't noticed."

"She is sassy when she is hurt, good to know." Says Tony.

"Oh not a good idea to mess with her." says Clint. "I made that mistake when I first met her and I got a dislocated shoulder and desk duty for two months."

"So scratch that." says Tony

Alex looks down at her dress and see's all the blood and groans. "I actually liked this dress."

"So did I." I whisper in her ear.

"I'm sure you did." She smirks.

"I gotta cut the sleeve off so I can get to it." Says Bruce.

"Fine."

"You ready?" He ask.

"Yup." She says grabbing my hand.

"Where's Natasha?" ask Clint.

"She and Pepper are trying to get Darcy to fly out." Says Tony.

"Why?" I ask.

"For Sam." Says Alex.

"You weren't kidding about the whole finding him a girlfriend thing."

"I don't mess around, they'd be cute together. Plus Darcy could totally get some great experience working with Tony and Bruce, I know she has been wanting to come out."

"Does Sam know about this?" Ask Clint.

"No and I want to keep it that way." She says.

"Where is Sam?" I ask.

"Gym." Says Tony.

Just then Alex's grasp on my hand tightens.

"Sorry Alex." Says Bruce as he finishes up.

"It's okay." She says gritting her teeth.

Bruce wraps it up and then goes back to working.

"What exactly happened to warrant the torn stitches?" Ask Tony.

"They took me into a back room after one of the guys figured out who I was. The great part was that it wasn't from my file being leaked, he worked for the Red Room and recognized me."

"You didn't think to mention this when we could have gotten rid of them?" I ask.

"Not really my first concern." She says annoyed.

"Well it's mine." I say.

"I needed to get out of there." She says. "They aren't going to remember anything from that gas I have them anyway." She starts raising her voice now.

"That stuff doesn't work all the time." I say frustrated.

"You don't think I know that. I hit them all in the head, they'll be lucky if they remember the past few months." She sighs and stands up. "I'm tired so I'm going to bed. Goodnight guys." She is frustrated with me so I don't follow her out.

"Looks like you may be getting the couch." Says Tony.

"Shut up Tony." I say.

"Just give her a few minutes to cool off." Says Clint.

"Yeah..." I say sitting down. "I just got a little overprotective."

"I do the same thing." Says Clint. "Annoys the crap out of Natasha."

"Yeah...I'm actually going to talk to her." I say standing up.

"Good luck." Says Bruce.

"Yeah thanks."

I head up to our floor and when I get up there I go to our room to see Alex reading in bed. I lean against the door frame and she looks at me.

"I'm sorry." I say. "I was being too overprotective. You can handle yourself and I know that I just worry."

"I'm sorry too I got mad for no reason. There is just a lot going on right now."

I go sit next to her and pull her over to me. "I know there is, it's going to work out though." I say kissing her head.

"I can't stay mad at you." She laughs. "I tried and it lasted like five seconds."

"I was never mad." I laughs back.

"Match made in heaven." She smiles.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She whispers. "I was being serious about being tired but I was waiting on you."

"Let me change." I laugh.

I do and then climb back into bed and pull her over to me. She means more to me than anything else on this earth.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Alex's POV

The next day I wake up late and find Steve not in bed but the smell of coffee and pancakes tells me that he is in the kitchen. I get out of bed and walk in there to see him flipping pancakes. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him.

"Morning." he says.

"Hi." I whisper kissing his neck.

"Pancakes?"

"Is that even a question?" I laugh pouring some coffee.

"It shouldn't be." he smiles. "What do you want to do today, we have the day off."

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." I say. "Lets watch movies." I suggest.

"I'll do whatever you want to do." He says giving me a plate of pancakes before he starts cleaning up.

"Where is your food?"

"I already ate..."

"Of course you did." I laugh. I eat about half of mine before sliding my plate over to him. "I can't eat anymore." I say.

"You sure?"

"Eat the pancakes Rodgers." I laugh. "I'll go pick out some movies."

We spend the whole day watching movies with the blinds shut and the lights off. I'm halfway laying on him and he has an arm around me. I was nice and relaxed but then my mind starts going about random things.

"Steve?"

"Yeah." He answers tiredly.

"Do you want kids?"

"Why do you ask?" He ask rubbing my back.

"I just was wondering." I say nervously.

"I do but I don't want you to feel pressured." He says.

"I do I just... Don't know if I can. I was experimented on so many times I just don't know if it's possible." I say sadly.

"If it happens it happens, I'm not worried about it." He says

"Are you sure?"

"More than sure." He whispers kissing me.

We spend the rest of the day just the two of us. No one bothers us in fact the only time I hear from someone is when Natasha text me to make sure we are still alive. Later that night I'm laying in bed waiting for Steve to come out of the bathroom. He opens the door and smiles at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Your gorgeous."

"Sure." I laugh.

"Well I think you are and I'm pretty sure my opinion is pretty important." He says plopping down on the bed.

"Oh no it is." I say rolling over to kiss him.

"I'm so in love with you." He says looking me in the eyes.

"And I with you." I smile.

"It's almost been two months." He says grabbing me.

"Hard to believe, it went by fast." I say laying my head on his chest.

"Time flys when your having fun." he laughs.

"If getting shot in the shoulder isn't fun then I don't know what is." I smirk.

"Smart ass."

"Oh you knew what you were getting into."

"That's why I did it."

"Alright I need sleep." I say yawning.

"Me too." He says turning his lamp off.

The next couple of weeks are not nearly as relaxing. We have meeting after meeting about the rebuilding of Shield which is starting to look less and less likely to happen soon and on top of that Fury keeps having me go on simple missions. I enjoy having them but once your cover is out on the internet it's hard to get stuff done. Steve goes with me most of the time but other times it's Clint or Natasha. I get sent on a solo one and when I get back to the tower I'm barley awake, I have dried blood on my face, and I have cuts everywhere along with several bruises starting to form. I walk into Steve and I's room to see him reading. I drop my gear by the door and he does a double take when he see's me.

"What happened?" He ask getting up.

"Didn't notice someone behind me and the rest of them were really good at fighting." I say tiredly heading to the bathroom.

Steve follows me in there and motions for me to sit on the counter. I do and he wets a washcloth before coming over and gently wiping my face off.

"There's my girl." he smiles at me.

"Thank you." I whisper.

"Suit off." he says.

I take the top half off and let him clean my cuts and then bandage them, none of them being deep enough for stitches. He goes into our room and grabs me one of his t shirts and a pair of my shorts.

"Do you want to shower now or in the morning?"

"In the morning." I whisper.

I change real quick before brushing my teeth. I look in the mirror to see Steve standing behind me looking worried. I turn around and smile at him.

"I'm ok, just tired." I say rubbing his chest.

"You sure?"

"Yeah plus I have you to take care of me."

"Just making sure." He says kissing my head.

The next morning when I wake up my whole body is sore, every inch of me feels like a ton of bricks. I look at the clock on my nightstand to see its already 10:30. Steve isn't in the room in fact I'm almost positive he is in the gym. I finally drag myself out of bed and put shorts and a t shirt on before heading down to the gym. Clint, Natasha, Sam, and Steve are all down there. I walk in and sit down against the wall. Steve is killing the punching bag, Clint and Tasha are fighting, and Sam is lifting weights. When he puts it down he looks at me.

"What happened?" he ask.

"I had a mission last night, I was caught off guard. Is it that bad?" I ask.

Steve stops with the punching bag and looks over. "Does that hurt cause it looks like it."

"Yeah." I sigh.

At this point Clint and Natasha have stopped too. "Damn Alex." says Clint

"Black eye and everything." says Natasha.

"Perfect." I say.

Steve helps me up and we all head upstairs to grab some breakfast. I grab a bowl of cereal and an ice pack from the freezer and sit down placing it on my shoulder.

"I'm done for a few weeks." I say. "It's too much."

"You have a meeting with Coulson today." says Steve.

"I forgot about that, thanks. But no more missions for a while."

"Yeah, you have been sent on most of them." says Natasha.

"Yup. Any one seen Bruce or Tony this morning?" I ask.

"Lab." says Sam.

Just then I get a text from Darcy saying she is flying in today. "Who is picking up Darcy today?" I ask.

"I got it." says Natasha.

"Who is Darcy?" Ask Sam.

"She works for Jane but since she is on Asgard she is coming over here for a while, she is great." I say.

Steve gives me a knowing look and I smirk at him. I finish up my breakfast before going to shower and get ready for my meeting with Coulson. I'm about to leave when I glance down the hallway to see Steve in his studio. I walk in there and put a hand on his shoulder, he is drawing Bucky.

"You thinking about him?" I ask.

"Yeah...Like you said the other day there is a lot going on, I just wish he was here." he says still drawing.

"He'll come around." I say rubbing his back. "I need to go, do you want me to bring you lunch?" I ask.

"Sure, I love you." He says looking up at me.

"Love you too." I say kissing him. "I'll let you know when I'm on my way home."

'Okay."

"Can I take the bike?" I ask.

"Keys are on the counter." He says.

"Thanks babe."

"Enjoy it."

I go down to the garage and get on Steve's motorcycle before heading to Fury's apartment, we have been using it for meetings since we can't use shield headquarters anymore. Once I get there I get off and walk up to the door and unlock it before heading in and walking up the stairs to the second floor to see Maria already there.

"What happened?" she ask.

"I got caught off guard last night." I sigh. "It's not bad it just hurts."

"Phil is running a few minutes late, he should be here soon though."

"That's fine." I say sitting down at the table. There is paperwork everywhere.

"So how's married life."she ask sitting across from me.

"It's good, really good." I smile.

"I never thought you would get married. Not because you couldn't find someone but because it just didn't seem like you wanted to."

"I didn't think I would either. You know me, I have trust issues with men but I knew there was something about Steve when I met him."

"Americas sweetheart." She laughs. "You know I never would have paired you two up but once it happened it made sense."

"Clint and Natasha saw it." I laugh.

Just then Phil walks in and smiles at the two of us. He sits down across from me.

"How'd you get the black eye?"

"Mission last night."

"Ah, well now that I'm here let's talk."

"About?"

"I want your help picking through my team, I want to know what you think."

"You want my help?"

"Yes." He laughs. " I already had Natasha and Clint do the same thing, just look them over."

"Files?"

"Right here." He says sliding them over to me. "It shouldn't take too long.

I start with the first one and an hour later I have finished all the files. I look up at Phil and he smiles at me.

"They check out." I say.

"You sure?"

"I'm positive, it's a solid team."

"Glad you think so." He says. "Now how are you?"

"I'm good." I say smiling at him.

"You're enjoying your new team?"

"It's great...I missed you, we all did." I say.

"I'm sorry I had to leave you guys." He says. "But I'm back now."

"You did it for the greater good."

"Yeah, so you and Steve?"

"Yeah." I say smiling.

"How long were you on the team before that happened?"

"Two days..." I laugh.

"You always could get them." he says.

"Steve started it."

'No."

"Yeah, hard to believe isn't it."

"Yeah." He laughs. "I'm glad you guys are happy. I need to get to a meeting with the team actually but I will talk to you again soon okay?"

"Thanks Phil."

The two of us walk outside and I go to get on the bike.

"Now I know that's not yours." he laughs.

"It's Steve's, he let me borrow it."

"Lucky you." he says.

"Whats his is mine." I laugh.

"Bye Alex."

"Bye Phil."

I stop and pick up lunch for Steve and I before heading back to the tower. I take the elevator up to the common floor hoping Steve got out of the studio. When the door opens I see he, Sam, and Clint watching tv.

"Hi boys." I say walking over to them.

"Hi Alex." Says Sam.

"Shortie." Say Clint.

"Birdbrain." I nod.

"You two are the prime example of team members." Laughs Steve.

"I have your lunch." I say walking over to the table.

He walks over and pulls me into a hug. "Thanks gorgeous." He whispers.

"No problem. You feeling better?"

"Yeah." He says kissing me. He grabs his sandwich and heads back to the couch.

"Where is Nat?" I ask sitting down on the floor.

"Picking up Darcy." Says Clint not taking his eyes off the tv, they are watching a football game.

"Oh good."

"How was the meeting?" ask Steve.

"It was fine, just looking over for some stuff for Phil."

"How was the bike?" he ask.

"Wonderful." I smile. Sam gets up from the couch to grab a drink. "Sam would you be a dear and grab me an ice pack."

"Sure thing."

"Yeah you're done for a while." says Steve.

"Glad you agree." I say placing the ice pack on my shoulder.

Thirty minutes later the elevator opens to Natasha and Darcy. I jump out of my chair and hug her.

"Hi!" I say squeezing her.

"Hi." She says back.

I pull away and look at her. "Sorry I couldn't come pick you up, I had a meeting."

"Don't worry about it, I got to catch up with Natasha. What happened to your eye?"

"I had a mission last night."

"Ah."

The boys get off the couch and walk over. Clint and Steve both hug Darcy and Sam just stands there awkwardly.

"Darcy this is Sam, Sam this is Darcy." I say.

"Nice to meet you." Says Sam as they shake hands.

"And you as well." Says Darcy smiling.

Later that night we all have a group dinner, something that hasn't happened in a while and it's really nice.

"Ready to start working tomorrow Darcy?" ask Tony.

"Yeah, bring it on Stark. I'm ready for anything." She laughs.

"Getting bored with the old stuff?" ask Bruce.

"Not bored, I just need a challenge."

"Ever tried hacking?" I ask.

"No..."

"Hear we go." laughs Steve.

"What?" I ask. "It's fun."

"And illegal." he says.

"Not if you don't get caught." I wink.

"Alex the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem." Laughs Clint.

"You're just mad cause i'm way better at it than you are."

"You're the best out of all of us." says Natasha.

"It's not like I use it to do bad things."

"You do use it to hack into Hydra though." says Steve.

"You do what?" Ask Pepper.

"It's to keep an eye on Bucky." I say.

"That makes more sense." Says Tony.

"Yeah, it's for a good cause guys." I say.

After another hour of talking we all decide to head to bed. Steve and I go up to our floor and I go into the bathroom and start the shower. I walk back out to grab some clothes and Steve grabs my hand.

"Hold on." He says bringing me closer to him. He starts to take my shirt off but i stop him.

"What are you doing?" I ask as he takes it off.

"Alex..." He says looking at my bruises and cuts, they are pretty bad.

"I'm fine." I lie.

"You're lying."

"Yeah."

"Go shower, I think we need to clean some of these." He says running his finger over the cuts on my stomach.

"I think the blade may have been rusty." I say flinching.

"Tetnis shot?

"Got one before I came up last night, that's the only thing they could get me to stay down there for."

"You're so stubborn." He sighs.

"I really wasn't in the mood to let some untrained interns take care of me."

"I know, go shower I'll be right back."

"Okay." I say kissing him.

He leaves the room and I grab pajamas before going and getting in the shower. The water and soap hitting my wounds stings but I know it's helping. Once I'm done I change into shorts and a Captain America shirt that Pepper got me before going and sitting on our bed. Steve comes in a few minutes later with medical supplies in one hand and ice cream in the other.

"Where did that shirt come from?" He smirks.

"Pepper gave it to me, it was the first shirt I grabbed. Why ice cream?"

"Just trust me." He says.

He puts the ice cream on his nightstand before sitting next to me. I take my shirt off and he whips out something to clean my cuts with and a towel.

"I'm really sorry but this is going to sting." He says.

"It's fine."

He pours the liquid on the towel and starts with the deeper cuts. A hiss a little and he looks at me concerned but I tell him to keep going. He finishes cleaning them well before he bandages them up.

"Better?" He ask.

"Yeah."

"Now we eat ice cream." He says picking it up and handing me a spoon.

"Any particular reason as to why?" I laugh.

"Ice cream is delicious for one and I know you love it. I also feel really bad for what I just did and you have been stressed lately, therefor we are eating ice cream."

"You're amazing." I say leaning against him.

We sit there for half an hour eating ice cream, he always knows how to cheer me up no matter what's going on.

Steve's POV

The next couple of weeks are just as crazy. When I'm on a mission Alex isn't, when she is on one i'm not. Even though shield is gone we still work for Fury and he is using us for small things here and there. I get home late one night to find Alex already asleep. I shower quickly before getting in bed. The next morning I'm woken up to the sound of banging on our door. Alex groans next to me.

"What." she yells.

"Open the door." says Tony.

"Why?" I ask.

"Cause I have to tell you guys something.

"Then open the door yourself." says Alex.

Sure enough Tony opens the door and I sit up and look at him. "What was so important Tony?" I ask.

"So you two are not morning people, good to know."

"Tony tell us what you came to tell us or so help me I will go down to the lab and screw with your suit settings." Says Alex sounding really annoyed.

"Pepper and I want you two to borrow the house in Malibu for a week or at the very least a few days. When is the last time you two had a day together?"

"It's been a few weeks." I say.

"And you guys never got a honeymoon, therefor take the house. All I ask is that you leave before either one of you gets assigned another mission."

"Thanks." Says Alex. "But why did you need to wake us up for this?"

"Cause I couldn't wait, I felt like being nice."

"Oh I'm so glad." Says Alex.

"Alright see us later." Says Tony.

He leaves our floor and I laugh a little. Alex rolls over and kisses me.

"Well now that we are up." She laughs.

"Sorry." I say.

"How was last night?" She ask.

"Fine, what did you do?"

"Made dinner for myself and spent some time dancing."

"You didn't hang out with anyone?"

"I was tired, didn't feel like being social. I missed you, I feel like I haven't seen you."

"I know I'm sorry." I say rubbing her back. "Do you really want to go to Malibu?" I ask.

"If it means I get to spend some time with you then yeah." She sighs.

"Then we can leave today." I whisper kissing her neck.

"Thank you."

By that night the two of us make it to Malibu. We get to Tony's house and Alex goes around turning lights on before coming back in the living room.

"This place is huge."

"You know Stark, small isn't his thing."

"It's so quiet." She says.

"Problem?"

"Not at all." She says kissing me. "Let's have some fun."

The next morning we wake up late and spend the day by the pool. The day starts fine but I get worried when Alex starts to get quiet. We are laying on an oversized chair and she has her head on my chest.

"You okay baby?" I ask rubbing circles on her back.

"Mhm." She mumbles.

"You have your thinking face on."

"Just thinking about shield, nothing new."

"Alex the point of this vacation was to relax, not stress out over our job."

"I know, I'm sorry I can't help it." she laughs.

"You kill me." I smile at her.

"Well that's not good." she laughs.

"Smart ass."

"I know."

"What is it that stresses you out."

"You know me, I have to be doing something and I have to have a plan and right now there is no plan, we are just going with the flow. Don't get me wrong that's great sometimes but right now I need to know what's going to happen."

"And see I just go with the flow but I do agree that we need a plan, it just may not happen right now."

"I just need to know in the near future." she smiles.

"It will happen." I say kissing her head. My phone rings two seconds later.

"You got that?" She mumbles.

"Yeah, it's Tony." I answer and put it on speaker. "Hey Tony."

"How's it going over there?"

"Going well." I say.

"Good, I made you guys a dinner reservation tonight so enjoy that. Just trust me on this. Also if you need anything just let me know and I'll take care of it."

"Thanks Tony." Says Alex.

"Alex! Nice to hear your voice."

"It's been a day." She laughs.

"Yeah but you aren't here to argue with me."

"That's a good thing." She says.

"Well anyway enjoy yourselves but know we miss you. Bye guys."

"Bye Tony." I say hanging up.

"He's too much sometimes." Laughs Alex.

"He has a bigger heart than people give him credit for though."

"He does."

That night we go out to dinner and the two of us have a nice quiet night. When we get back to the house Alex stops me the second we walk through the door. She pulls her gun out of her bag and hands me one. I don't usually like using guns but if it means I'm protecting Alex then I'll do it.

"What the hell?"

"There is someone here." She whispers.

"Meet me in the kitchen?"I whisper back.

"Yup."

We split up to check the rooms and five minutes later we meet in the kitchen. The lights are still off but I know it's her.

"Anything?" I ask.

"No but I can sense it."

"You're never wrong about these things."

"I wish I was."

That's when I feel something hit my neck, so does Alex. We both reach up and pull darts out of our neck.

"Shit." She whispers.

I start to feel drowsy. "Try and stay awake."

"I can't." She says. "I love you." She says before falling down.

I lower myself next to her and grab her hoping to protect her but soon after I pass out too. The last thing I see are two unknown men standing over me before darkness.


	12. Chapter 12

Steve's POV

The first thing I see when I open my eyes is Alex tied up in a chair across from me. I however have my arms suspended above me and am standing, my legs are chained to the ground as well. We are in a warehouse of some sort, I think we are still in the United States but obviously whoever has us, has a plan. Alex begins to wake up in front of me and when her eyes open and she see's me there is so much hurt on her face. She has a gag in her mouth so she cant say anything so I say something instead.

"It'll be okay." i get out my voice still feeling hoarse.

She nods her head right before the door opens. We both turn our head to see several men walk in and when I turn back to look at Alex she has a look of disgust on her face, they must be from the Red Room.

"Привет Александрия."(hello Alexandria) The head guys says to Alex before taking off her gag.

"Что ты хочешь Иван?"(what do you want Ivan?) Ask Alex.

"Вы получили далеко, Нам нужно тебя обратно."(you left, we need you.) He says back to her.

"Вам не нужно мне, вы должны мое тело."(you don't need me, you need my body) she says bitterly.

"Yes and we also need him." He says pointing to me.

"Leave him out of this Ivan." Says Alex.

"You broke the rules Alexandria."

"Don't call me that."

"You know what happens when you break the rules."

"I don't work for you, you lost control of me when I escaped five years ago."

"Be that as it may we need you back, say no and you both suffer."

"I'll come back to you when hell freezes over."

"You were always tough." He says before turning around to look at me. "Know this isn't personal Captain." He says before some guy punches me right in the gut. "From what I hear you heal pretty quickly."

"Why do you care." I say.

"Oh I don't, I'm just thinking you may need it."

"Leave him out of this Ivan." Says Alex.

"You brought him into it once you married him." He yells.

"It's me you want, it's me you have."

"Captain we are going to let you pick, your wife is too demanding. You or her?"

"Me." I say without hesitation.

"Steve..."

"You heard the man, maybe watching him get hurt because of her will help her decide. Come get me when your done."

Ivan leave the room and the two men put the gag back on Alex before they come over to me. By the end of it I have several bruised ribs, cuts all over my back, a broken nose, two black eyes and bruises starting to form all over my body. I have blood dripping down my bare back and down my face and Alex looks terrified. There is nothing I can say to her, nothing I can promise her. I just have to hope someone knows we are missing. Ivan comes back in and looks at the both of us before speaking.

"He can go in the cell, chain her up."

I can't even speak to protest. They take me down and drag me away and I use what little energy I have left to look back at Alex as they chain her up. She doesn't even fight back and I can't help her. They throw me in the cell but don't bother to chain me up. I don't lean against the wall because of the pain in my back so instead I sit up as best I can in the middle of the cell. Just as I sit up I hear Alex scream and I feel like I'm being ripped apart. To think that what she is going through is even worse than what I went through. I wait for what feels like forever for them to bring her to the cell and when they finally do she is in worse shape than I am. She has cuts all over her torso and bruises everywhere. Her left arm looks broken and she has at least one run out of place. She has blood dripping down her head and is barley conscious when they throw her in.

"Steve?" She whispers.

"I'm right here baby." I say moving over to her. "Can you sit up?"

"I need help."

"I'm really sorry if I hurt you." I say.

I grab her and after a few minutes I help her sit up.

"Thank you." She whispers leaning on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

"Hey you didn't do anything, you have nothing to worry about."

"How's your back?"

"It's hurts like hell, I can't imagine what yours feels like. What did they do to your arm?"

"They broke it, honestly I can't feel anything. They took my rings." She says sadly.

"Just try and rest." I say in her ear.

I feel her somewhat relax against me and five minutes later she is asleep with her head on my shoulder. I look through the holes in the back of her dress to see blood dripping down her back. My shirts is sticking to my back from all the blood. I want to clean it for her but I feel too heavy to move so instead I just sit there. The two of us stay that way for hours until I hear the door beginning to open. Alex stays asleep and I know she is going to stay out. I know what's coming when that door opens or at least I think I do. Instead of Ivan walking in I see Tony in his suit and Sam.

"You two really know how to scare everyone." Says Tony.

"Experts in our trade." I say sarcastically.

"We should go." Says Sam.

"Can you get her, she's out and I can't pick her up."

"I've got you covered." Says Sam picking her up.

Tony helps me up and we start to make our way out. "Clint and Natasha?" I ask.

"Taking care of some things. Bruce is on the quinjet and Thor was with Clint and Natasha." Says Tony.

"When did he get back?"

"Yesterday with Jane."

"How did you know we were gone?"

"Jarvis alerted me that someone was in the house about thirty minutes after you left for dinner so I tracked your phones and saw you were in fact at dinner. We all tried calling you guys after dinner and after no one picked up we flew out here, here still being Malibu."

"This will be the only time I thank you for hacking my phone."

"Your welcome spangles."

When we round the corner we see the other three. "Don't need to worry about that one anymore." Says Natasha.

"What did you do?" I ask as we keep walking.

"We don't need to go into detail." Says Clint.

"How are you guys doing?" Ask Natasha.

"I'm better than Alex, but not by much."

"I'm so sorry." Says Clint.

"Nice to see you Thor." I say looking back at him.

"And you as well given the circumstances."

The seven of us make our way back to the quinjet where Bruce is waiting for us. Sam sets Alex down on one bed while I sit opposite of her. Natasha starts to clean her back while Bruce starts on me.

"Your backs are pretty rough." he says as he cleans mine.

"Yup." I say back, its about the only word I can get out.

Just then Alex starts to wake up but the look on her face shows how much pain she is in. No position is going to be comfortable for her.

"Bruce can you sedate her?"

"Yeah." He walks over there and quickly does it before she wakes up all the way and can protest to it. "What's the extent of her injuries that you know of?"

"Everything I have minus the broken nose but add a broken arm and possibly a broken rib. I was trying not to move her too much, I didn't want to puncture her lung."

"Your nose looks almost healed by the way, your back is another story and your bruises are starting to fade a bit. Your ribs may take a bit more time. As for Alex i'll do an x-ray when we get back, for now all I can do is keep her sedated, if she moves to much she could puncture a lung."

"Thanks Bruce."

"No problem, I'm just glad we found you guys. I hope you enjoyed yourselves for one day you had off."

"Yeah, we may not being going on vacation again anytime soon." I smirk.

Once we get back to the tower Alex gets sent up to medical and I go to make sure she is okay. She is doing fine until an intern screws up and her broken rib ends up puncturing her lung. Bruce makes both me and the intern get out of the room and Natasha has to go handle the intern before I do. I sigh and sit down next to Sam.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up, maybe get something to eat. Nat, Clint, and I can keep an eye on her until you get back."

"I don't know..."

"Steve we got her, I know Pepper has food upstairs. Go get cleaned up and get some of that, there isn't much you can do just sitting here."

"Fine." I say slowly getting up.

"One more thing." Says Natasha as she rounds the corner. "I believe these belong to your wife." She says handing me her engagement and wedding ring.

"How did you get these back?"

"They were talking about how much money they could get from them when I walked in."

"Thank you Nat."

"No problem." She smiles. "Go get cleaned up, we've got her."

I go up to our floor and shower. I let the water and soap clean my cuts before I get out and re wrap my back. Before I head back down I need a minute to myself, just to take everything in. How do we always get ourselves into these messes?

Alex POV

The first time I wake up in the tower the amount of pain I feel overwhelms everything else. All I am aware of is the fact that instead of Steve I see Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and Sam. I can't breath very well and everything hurts. I hear the beeping of my heart monitor speed up before Bruce comes over and I'm out again. The next time I wake up however is different I am still in pain but it's manageable for the most part. The only person in the room is Steve and he is sitting on the side of the bed running his fingers through my hair.

"Hey gorgeous." He whispers.

"Hey." I say hoarsely.

"I know it hurts, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I say reaching up to grab his hand with my uninjured one. "What happened after Bruce drugged me?"

"We got back here and you were doing fine until an intern screwed up and one of your lungs collapsed. Bruce told me he had to drug you again after you woke up the first time cause you were in too much pain."

"I also freaked a little cause I didn't see you."

"I'm sorry, they wanted me to go get cleaned up."

"Good."

"I have something for you." He says pulling rings out of his pocket.

"My rings...how did you get them."

"Nat got them back." He says slipping them on my finger.

"Where is everyone?"

"Clint, Natasha,Darcy, and Sam are outside and Bruce was about to come back in. Tony and Pepper went to bed and so did Thor and Jane."

"When did they get here?"

"I guess they came right after we left."

Just then the door opens and Bruce comes in. "Good to see you up." He says.

"Yeah."

"Hows the pain?"

"Manageable for right now."

"I'm keeping you here the rest of the night, I'll let you go in the morning."

"That's fine."

"You up for visitors?"

"Not right now, tell them i'm sorry."

"I figured, you two get some rest."

"Hey Bruce." I say as he walks out.

"Yes?"

"No more interns."

"You got it." he laughs

Bruce leaves and I scoot over as best I can to make room for Steve next to me. He lays back with me and puts an arm around my shoulder. I lean my head on his chest and he sighs rubbing my arm.

"This happens far too often for my liking." he says kissing my head.

"I know." We stay quiet for a few minutes. "What happened with Ivan?"

"Nat took care of him, don't worry."

"I'm so sorry." I whisper.

"I've almost healed, it's you i'm worried about. I'm sorry you had to watch that. I can't even imagine. I just heard you screaming and that was awful."

"That was terrifying." is all I can get out.

"I'm sorry." He whispers. "Let's get some sleep."

"Okay." I say before drifting off again.

When I wake up in the morning Steve is still asleep, Clint however is sitting in the chair next to the bed.

"What are you doing birdbrain?" I ask tiredly.

"Checking in." He says. "Glad to see you are up to calling me names." He smirks.

"Too early for this." I say.

"You two are cute when you sleep that close." He laughs.

"Don't wake him up." I say just as Steve starts to wake up.

"Too late." Says Clint.

Steve rubs his eyes and then looks at Clint."Morning Clint." He says trying to get the sleep from his voice. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Just me being the over protective brother of sorts, wanted to make sure you guys were okay."

"Where is Natasha?" I ask.

"She went to go grab you some clothes. Bruce was going to come in and check you over before letting you go upstairs."

"Ah." I say.

Just then Natasha walks in. "Good you're up, how you feeling?"

"Everything just kinda hurts." I say.

"At least you can get out of here also don't worry about that intern I took care of him." She smirks.

"And they wonder why I never come down."

"Sometimes you need to." Whispers Steve.

"That's what you think."

"Glad to see you joking." Says Bruce walking in. "How's the pain this morning?"

"About the same." I say.

"I'll get you a prescription and bring it up later. Steve just change her bandages later today at some point just watch the rib but other wise you are good to go. Keep the arm elevated today, it'll help the swelling go down. How's the back Steve?"

"I think it's healed, I'll check it once I get back upstairs."

"Alright your good to go, let me know if you need anything." He says walking out.

"Here are your clothes, we have a meeting we have to go to but we will be back later. Let us know if you need anything." Says Natasha.

"Bye guys, rest up." Says Clint.

Once they leave the room Steve helps me get changed and we slowly make our way to the elevator. Once we get to our floor we go to our room and I lay down.

"Shit everything hurts." I say closing my eyes.

"You can't have more pain meds right now I'm sorry." He says pulling the blankets over me.

"Are you getting in here?"

"Yeah let me just take the bandages off real quick."

I watch him take his shirt off and unwrap his torso. The only thing left of last night are a few scars that will fade by the end of the day. He puts his shirt back on before kicking his shoes off and climbing in next to me.

"I love you." I say kissing him.

"I love you too." He says kissing my nose.

The only comfortable way for me to be laying right now is on my side with my broken arm draped over Steve's chest. He is tracing patterns on my arms with his fingers and we lay there in silence. I end up falling back asleep a few minutes later but that only last so long before I wake up in a hell of a lot of pain from a nightmare. Steve walks into our room and helps me sit up.

"Shit." I whisper as I sit up.

"I'm sorry. I need to change your bandages."

"I think my backs bleeding."

He lifts my shirt up and sure enough I've almost bled through the bandages.

"I'll clean it, are you able to make it to the bathroom?"

"Help me up."

He does and we walk to the bathroom before he carefully lifts me up and puts me on the counter. Just then Jarvis speaks.

"Mr. Banner is in the apartment sir."

"Tell him to come in here." Says Steve.

"Holy hell this hurts." I say.

"Hopefully he brought pain meds."

"Need some help?" Ask Bruce walking in.

"Yeah." Sighs Steve.

"I brought meds." He says handing them to me. "Take two."

"Thanks." I say taking them quickly.

"Steve unwrap the bandages, where do you guys keep the medical supplies?"

"Under the kitchen sink." Says Steve unwrapping my back. "Oh my gosh." He whispers.

"What?"

"It's bad babe, no wonder it hurt so bad."

"Wow." Says Bruce. "What were you doing?"

"Sleeping." I grumble.

"Is it that bad?"

"Yeah." Says Bruce.

I turn myself a bit to look in the mirror and there is blood running all down my back. The cuts are long and deep.

"I may need to put stitches in some of these." Sighs Bruce. "Im cleaning them." He says placing a towel on my back.

"This is all too familiar." Says Steve as I grip his hand.

"Son of a bitch." I whisper.

"I'm sorry Alex." Says Bruce.

He finishes leaning them and then stitches up the one bleeding the most knowing I can't sit there for much longer. He bandages it again and Steve carefully turns me around on the counter and they both look at me.

"Did the meds kick in?" Ask Bruce.

"Yeah."

"I was coming to ask if you guys wanted to come down to lunch but those are going to knock you out. I'm sorry Alex."

"Nothing else anyone can do." I say.

"What I just did should stop the bleeding, just take it easy."

"Thanks Bruce." Says Steve.

"No problem, I'll see you guys later."

We sit there for a few minuets. Steve standing and me leaning my head on his shoulder sitting on the counter. I don't know when I started crying but Steve just runs his hand through my hair trying to comfort me. He is the only person I let myself cry in front of.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." He whispers.

"That stupid son of a bitch."

"I know, how's your pain?"

"Getting better." I whisper.

"Let's get you in bed."

I just nod my head and let him pick me up. He pulls the blankets over me and I grab his hand.

"Stay here."

"Of course." He says kissing my head.

The next thing I know I'm being woken up by Steve who is kneeling by my side of the bed, his blue eyes have a look of concern.

"Dinners ready upstairs, are you hungry?"

"Yeah." I whisper.

He helps me stand up and we head to the elevator before.

"You awake yet?"

"No, everything feels kinda fuzzy."

"But does it hurt?"

"No."

"Well then there you go."

We get off the elevator and Tony is the first to speak up.

"It's Alex! And she is drugged up so she won't argue with anyone."

"Oh my gosh Tony." Says Pepper.

"It's fine." I say sitting down and putting my head in my hands trying to wake up. I look up to Jane and Thor who are sitting across from me. "Nice to see you guys."

"How are you feeling?" Ask Jane.

"I'll let you know when I actually know what's going on."

"Fair enough." says Thor.

Steve sits down next to me and puts a plate in front of me. "Here you go."

"Thanks. Where is everyone else?" I ask.

"Bruce will be up in a bit, Sam and Darcy went out on a date, about time I know, and Natasha and Clint said their meeting is running long." Says Tony.

"Alright." I say digging in to my food. About halfway through dinner the meds start to wear off and I start getting slightly uncomfortable.

"I have your meds, do you need them?" whispers Steve.

"Not yet, it's just uncomfortable." I say readjusting my position.

"Let me know."

I only make it twenty more minutes until I finally just give up and go back up to Steve and I's apartment. I take the pain killers and welcome the darkness with open arms.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Alex's POV

The injuries are healed after a couple of months but the emotional things, don't get much better. I still have the nightmares, so does Steve but every time we try to talk about it, it becomes too hard. We are becoming closed off, not towards each other but towards everyone else. Steve has a meeting one morning so I get up with him and we eat breakfast together. We don't say much but that's okay, we know what the other is thinking and its was a rough night last night.

"I need to go." He says wrapping his arms around me.

"Okay." I say into his chest.

"It'll get better."

"I know, just waiting on it."

"I love you, I'll see you later." He says kissing me.

"Love you too."

He walks out and I clean up from breakfast before deciding to head to my studio. I change clothes and pull my hair up before turning on the music from Swan Lake and dancing my way through it. I get so into it that I don't even notice Natasha standing there.

"Alex." She says as a song stops. It makes me jump but I turn around and look at her.

"What?"

"I came to talk."

"About what."

"I think you know what." She says.

"Nat I appreciate it but I don't really want to talk about it." I say walking into the living room.

"I'm worried about you guys." She says. "You guys have been getting closed off and its getting worse. Talk to me." She almost pleads, she never does that.

"I don't know where to start." I say sitting down.

She sits down next to me. "What's bothering you most?"

"The fact that Steve got pulled into this, I feel like it's my fault."

"He knew what he was getting into when he married you, he loves you so much and I know you know that. He would do anything for you. I know for a fact that the only regret he has about that night is that he couldn't protect you."

"Every night I have nightmares about it. I just sit there and watch it all over again and I can't stop it."

"They screw with your mind, you know that. They never want you to forget. But you also know that it will get better."

"I know, it's just taking longer than usual."

"I'm sorry, I'm proud of you though, you don't close Steve out and I think that says a lot about your relationship. He has helped you with that."

"How is it that you are always right?" I ask smiling.

"It's a gift." she laughs.

"Now I just need to help Steve realize some things." I sigh.

"Iv'e got my man on that, don't you worry."

"Thank you." I say.

"Never a problem."

The two of us end up hanging out the rest of the day, something we don't get to do often.

"Do you have a dress for the Christmas party?" She ask as we watch a movie.

"Not yet." I sigh.

"Me neither."

"We should go shopping." I say.

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds good to me." She says.

"Go grab your purse, I'll meet you downstairs in ten. Let's take your car."

"Okay, sounds good."

I go put shoes on and grab my purse before calling Steve, he picks up on the first ring.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah I was just letting you know Nat and I are going to look for dresses for the Christmas party. What are up to?"

"Having coffee with Clint. They are trying to keep us busy." He laughs.

"Probably." I laugh back.

"Do you want to meet us for dinner when you guys are done?"

"Yeah." I smile. "I love you."

"Love you too gorgeous, see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I get on the elevator and head down to the parking garage and find Natasha waiting at her car.

"You ready?"

"Yup."

We get in the car and go to several different shops before we find dresses. I end up with another red dress that is long and has a slit up one side and is beaded at the collar and Natasha ends up with a long white dress with a high collar and low back. Once we find our dresses we head to dinner with the boys.

"Hi soldier." I say sitting next to Steve and kissing him.

"Hi." He smiles. "Did you find a dress?"

"Yeah."

"How was your day?"

"It was good." He says.

"I'm glad."

I grab his hand under the table and look at Clint. "You keep him out of trouble?"

"Of course." He smiles.

Dinner is nice, full of casual conversation and for the first time in months I feel like we are slowly getting back to normal. Once we get back to the tower Steve and I go up to our floor and go in our room.

"Can I see your dress?" He ask.

"Your going to have to wait." I say.

"Why?"

"Cause I want it to be a surprise." I smirk at him.

"Fine." He whines.

"Oh calm down." I say plopping down on the bed next to him and kissing him.

"Alex?" He ask playing with my hair.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I feel like I haven't been there, like really been there for the last couple months."

I sit up and look at him. "Steven Rodgers listen to me. You have been nothing but helpful and supportive. I love you, I love you so much and I'm so glad that you have been by my side. You know what I realized today is that we are blaming ourselves for what happened to the other person but it's not our fault, we just need to be there for each other."

He doesn't respond instead he pulls me over to him and kisses me. Once we stop we rest our foreheads together and he pecks my lips.

"I love you, I love you so much." He whispers.

"I love you too."

"No more guilty conscious." He says kissing my nose.

"I know." I say kissing his neck.

That night we get the first peaceful night of sleep since the attack. Neither one of us wakes up from a nightmare. I wake up in the morning to Steve tracing patterns on my back.

"Morning." I whisper.

"Good morning." He says kissing my shoulder.

"How long have you been awake?" I laugh.

"A couple minutes." He smiles.

"What's on the agenda today?"

"I was just thinking we could have a lazy day, neither one of us has meeting, and we don't have to train."

"Will pancakes be part of the plan?"

"Only if you want them to."

"Of course, who doesn't love your pancakes."

"This is true." He laughs.

"So here's the deal, I'll make coffee, you make pancakes. Deal?"

"Yes Mrs. Rodgers." He whispers.

"You're such a sap." I say kissing him.

"But you love me anyway."

"I do." He gets out of bed and throws some clothes on. "Hand me one of your shirts." I say.

"What's wrong with yours?"

"Nothing I just like yours."

He throws me one and walks out to start breakfast. I throw some shorts on and get started on the coffee. We sit down to breakfast and five minutes later the elevator door opens to Sam.

"Pancakes in the warming drawer." Says Steve.

"Oh my gosh really?"

"Yup, go for it."

He grabs some and sits down across from us. "How's it going?"

"Great." I say smiling.

"Where is Darcy?" Ask Steve.

"Lab." Says Sam.

"So you guys official?" I ask.

"You could say that." He smiles.

"About time." I smirk.

"How you guys doing?" Ask Sam.

"Better." Says Steve smiling.

"I'm glad, I was starting to get worried." He says.

"We are both stubborn, me more so than him but we were having a hard time moving past it, we are getting there though." I say.

"Good." He smiles. "I gotta go rent a tux for Tony's Christmas party." Grumbles Sam.

"Just buy one." I say. "Tony has fundraisers and parties all the time, your going to need it."

"I hate shopping." Says Sam.

"You and every other guy on the planet." I laugh.

We sit there and finish breakfast before Sam heads out to go buy his tux. Steve and I clean off the dishes before plopping down on the couch and playing a movie. At some point during the day we end up with everyone in our living room watching a movie. Pepper brings back take out and we all enjoy some time together. I live for these moments where we can be a family.

Steve's POV

The day of the Christmas party comes faster than I thought. I leave Alex at home that morning to go to some meeting and when I come home around three I find her asleep in bed which I find odd considering that she never takes naps. I bend down and kiss her forehead.

"Alex you gotta get up." I whisper.

"Why?" She ask tiredly.

"We gotta get ready."

"Oh yeah."

"You okay?" I ask as she sits up rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah, I didn't feel too great earlier so I decided to lay down, guess I fell asleep."

"And now."

"I feel fine." She says getting up.

The two of us gets ready and while she finishes her makeup I struggle with my bow tie.

"Come here." She says.

"All these years and I still can't tie it." I laugh as she ties it.

"And that's ok, now get out so I can put my dress on."

"Yes ma'am I say kissing her cheek.

She comes out five minutes later in a long red dress and she looks amazing.

"Can you zip me up?" She ask.

"Yeah." I zip her dress up and kiss her neck. "You look gorgeous." I whisper in her ear.

"I thought you might like it." She says. "Let me just put my shoes on and I'll be ready to go."

"Take your time."

Once she is ready we get on the elevator and head down to the party. The party is going great and at some point Alex even convinces me to dance with her.

"I like when you dance with me." She says smiling at me.

"Anything I can do to make you happy." I say.

"You always make me happy."

"Who's the sap now?" I laugh.

"Still you." She smirks.

"You two kill me." Says Pepper next to us, she is dancing with Tony.

"We try." Says Alex.

Once we are done we head back to the bar where the rest of the team is. Alex sits down and I stand behind her.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Just a water." She says.

"Um excuse me did I hear you right?" Ask Natasha.

"I'm not feeling to hot, I think I'm dehydrated." She says.

"Do you need to go back up?" I ask her.

"No, I'm fine I just probably shouldn't drink right now."

"Okay." I say with worry in my voice.

It's not till thirty minutes later that I start to worry.

"Steve." Whispers Alex.

"What wrong?"

"I feel like I'm going to pass out." She says, she does look pale.

"Hold on baby." I turn to look at Bruce. "I'm going to need you to go up to medical with me." I say to him.

"Is she okay?" He ask.

"She says she feels like she is going to pass out."

"Yeah, we should go."

"Can you make it up to medical?" I ask her.

"Yeah."

"I'll come too." Says Natasha.

"I don't want a mass exodus but come up in like 10 minutes and let Tony know what's going on would you."

"You got it." She says.

I help Alex up and put my arm around her waist to support her. The three of us get on the elevator and walk to one of the many empty rooms.

"I'm going to start you on IV fluids and then run some blood test okay?" Says Bruce.

"Go ahead." Says Alex.

Alex grabs my hand as Bruce starts the IV and grips it harder as he is taking blood but she doesn't flinch. Once he is done I sit down on the bed and pull her into my lap. She puts her head in the crook of my neck and I run my fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry you don't feel well." I whisper kissing her head.

"It's okay."

I look out the window to see the whole team outside. "We have company."

She looks up for a split second before laying back down and closing her eyes. "They worry too much."

"It's cause they love you."

"Did Tony leave his party?"

"Yeah."

"He didn't need to do that."

"He wanted to."

"Steve what if there is something really wrong?"

"Don't stress about it, we can cross that bridge when we come to it."

You're right."

"Just rest."

"Okay."

She kicks her heels off and lays an arm over my chest. I continue to play with her hair knowing that it calms her down. I'm getting text from Natasha who is looking at me through the window.

"Is she okay?"

"Slightly dehydrated, Bruce is trying to figure out what's wrong."

"What do you think it is?"

"I have no idea."

"Well let us know if you guys need anything."

"Tell everyone thank you."

"I will."

And the conversation ends there. Ten minutes later Bruce comes in and shuts the blinds before walking over to us and sitting down in the chair. Alex is fully awake at this point and I can feel her tense up. I rub her back trying to calm her down.

"Is everything okay?" She ask frantically.

"Everything is fine." He says.

"Then why do I feel like crap?"

"Your pregnant." He says smiling at us.

It takes me a minutes to process what he has just said but once I finally get it I'm over the moon. Alex and I are going to have a baby, we are going to be parents.

"Wait are you serious?" Ask Alex.

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh." She whispers before looking up at me. "We're having a baby." She says smiling.

"I know." I say kissing her.

"I know you both probably already know this and I hate to put a damper on this but we need to keep a close eye on you Alex. You know as much as anyone that this is high risk because of what happened to you when you were in the Red Room. Right now you look to be about two and a half months and I'm not saying that this baby won't make it full term but we need to be prepared for this baby to come early. What this means for the next month or so is that I want you doing very limited activity, stay off your feet as much as you can. Once you hit the three and a half month mark we can re evaluate but I just want the best chances for this." Says Bruce.

"Got it." Says Alex. "Does anyone else know?"

"No, I thought I'd let you tell them and I shut the blinds because they would have figured it out from your reaction." He laughs.

"Yeah..." I say.

"Do you want me to get everyone in here?"

I look to Alex and she nods. "Go for it." I say.

Once everyone is in the room, and I mean everyone, we get them to stop asking questions long enough to give them an answer.

"I'm pregnant." Says Alex.

The room goes quiet for two seconds before everyone starts talking again. Natasha's face lights up at this news and the usual stony spy gives the both of us a huge hug, as does everyone else.

"I'm so happy for you guys." She whispers to us.

"Thank you Nat." says Alex.

After everyone congratulates us and we talk for a little while and all try to take in the news everyone starts to find their way to bed. Clint, Natasha, and Bruce are the only ones left in the room while we wait for Alex to get rehydrated.

"I didn't know you guys were trying for a kid." Laughs Clint.

"We were just going to see what happened." I say.

"I'm going to be an aunt." says Natasha.

"I'm still trying to let the news sink in." says Alex.

"It'll hit you eventually." Says Bruce. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah." she says.

"Okay, I want you to come back down tomorrow so we can check everything out but in the mean time go get some sleep." He says taking the IV out of her arm.

"Thanks Bruce." she says.

"No problem, I'll see you guys tomorrow.

I grab her shoes and the two of us plus Clint and Natasha get on the elevator. We stop at their floor first.

"Night guys." say Clint.

"Get some sleep." says Natasha.

"Night." we both say.

We are silent on the way up to our floor and once we get up there Alex grabs one of my shirts and a pair of shorts before going to change. Once we both get in bed I pull her over to me.

"I can't believe it." I whisper.

"Me neither." she says. "I'm nervous but excited."

"Me too."

"I never thought I would be this happy."

"I love you so much."

"I love you too." she says.

"Come on, you need to sleep." I say.

"I'm not going to argue with you." she says closing her eyes. "Goodnight soldier."

"Goodnight gorgeous."

And just like that I'm out.


	14. Author's Note (Please Read)

Hey guys sorry it's not two chapters in one night but anyway. I hope you are all enjoying the story I just want to say if you feel like I'm straying too far from any of the characters let me know, I want to stay true to all the the Marvel characters but Alex is mine to control (sorry guys) but really i would love to get your feedback. Again I really hope you are enjoying, let me know what else you want to see!


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Alex's POV

The next few weeks are uneventful and for me boring. I can't work out and I can't dance however I do get to train some new recruits and I make their life a living hell. I'm standing there watching them one afternoon and after watching them screw around all morning I'm sick of there joking around so I call Natasha while they are on break.

"Are you in a meeting?" I ask.

"No, why?"

"I need you to come kick some asses for me."

"I'm in, I'll be right down."

We are holding training in the tower until we can get a new headquarters building up and running. Natasha is down a few minutes later.

"Thanks for thinking of me." She laughs.

"Well I can't do it and we are basically the same person. The tall one over there, he is going to offer to go first because he is cocky like that. I'm telling you now you'll have him pinned in less than two minutes."

"This is going to be fun."

"I get too much joy out of training." I laugh. "Alright here's the deal, my friend Agent Romanoff here is going to be helping me out. She is going to be showing you how to efficiently take down your opponent, Tash you can take it from here."

"I'm going to need a volunteer, anyone willing to help me." She says in a way that makes the guys all become love sick puppies.

"I'll do it." Says Rick, the one I was telling her about.

"Great, the rest of you watch carefully."

Two seconds later Rick launches at her and she slides under him while he lands with a thud on the floor. Natasha sits on him and puts him in a choke hold.

"Thirty seconds." I yell to her.

She smirks before turning to look at them. "His first mistake was relying purely on his muscle, boys don't deny it, you all think that you can defeat women just cause you are bigger. Girls don't hesitate to use your small frames to your advantage. Would you like to go again Rick?"

"Yeah."

He goes with Natasha three more times before he gives up. The other recruits do better but not by much. Once I have decided that they have had enough I let them go for the day.

"I wanted to flip a few of them so many times today." I say once they have left. "Thanks for doing it for me."

"I never pass up an opportunity to whip some newbies into shape. So what's next on your agenda?"

"A nap." I say grabbing my stuff off the floor.

"That sounds great." She says as we walk to the elevator.

"What about you?"

"I need to go test out some new equipment and the Clint wanted to go out tonight."

"That sounds fun." I say.

"Yeah, we don't go out a lot. I'll see you later." She says getting off.

The elevator goes up to Steve and I's floor and when I get off I drop my water bottle in the kitchen sink before walking towards our room. I stop when I see Steve in the studio.

"Hey soldier." I say down the hallway.

He turns around and smiles at me. "Hey, when did you get here?"

"Just now, I'm taking a nap before dinner, care to join me?"

"Sure." He says getting up and walking towards me. "How was training?" He ask kissing me.

"Fine, I got Natasha to whip some asses for me."

"Sounds fun." He says plopping down on the bed.

"It was entertaining." I say laying down next to him. "What have you been up to?"

"Had some meeting this morning, trained a little. Sam and I went and had lunch."

"I haven't seen him in a few days."

"He had to go take care of some things in D.C."

"Ah." I say before yawning.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah just tired." I say moving closer to him.

The next thing I know it's 7:30 and I'm waking up again. I can hear Steve in the kitchen so I fix my hair before going out there. I walk out there to find Steve making pasta.

"I'm so glad you can cook cause I can't." I say sitting at the counter.

"Yeah but you make great coffee." He says smiling at me. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." I say smiling at him.

"Everyone decided to go out so I'm just throwing something together."

"What about Bruce?"

"Ordered take out and locked himself in the lab." He says making me a bowl of pasta.

"He is my next project."

"You bored?"he laughs.

"Yes, I can't do anything." I say as he sits next to me.

"I'm sorry." He says kissing my head.

"What do your plans look like tomorrow?" I ask changing the subject.

"More meetings." He sighs.

"Till when?"

"2 at least."

"Fun fun." I say sarcastically.

"It's been crazy for the last couple of weeks, I know."

"But we have a start so it's ok."

"Exactly." He says.

The next morning I wake up to find that I feel like crap and Steve is gone. The morning sickness decided to kick in a few days ago but today is bad. After throwing up for an hour and a half I make it to the couch and call Bruce but no answer. I figure he is in the lab so I call Tony instead not wanting to bother Steve in his meeting.

"Hello Alex." He says into the phone.

"Is Bruce with you?"

"Yeah, why what's wrong?" He says in a more serious tone.

"Really bad morning sickness, I think I'm dehydrated. I'm currently on my couch and I can't move."

"We'll be right up." He says before hanging up.

I close my eyes hoping the room will stop spinning at some point. The elevator opens a few minutes later and I see the science bros getting off the elevator looking concerned. Bruce has an IV in hand and sits down on the coffee table across from me. Instead of saying anything I just stretch my arm out for him.

"Have you called Steve?" Ask Tony.

"No." I say quietly.

Tony whips out his phone to call him. "Hi capsicle." He says. "I've got your wife here who is currently being hooked up to an IV in your living room. Thought you might like to know." Two seconds later Tony hands me the phone. "He wants to talk."

I grab the phone from him. "Hi."

"What's wrong?"

"Dehydrated." I say. "I was pretty sick this morning."

"Have you eaten anything yet?"

"No."

"Okay, I'm on my way home okay?"

"You don't need to, I know your busy."

"You're more important, I'll be there soon."

"Love you."

"I love you too." He says.

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hand Tony his phone back and Bruce taps down my IV.

"Have you eaten today?" Ask Bruce.

"Nope, I can't keep anything down."

"That should help, I'll stay up here to make sure."

"I'll stay too." Says Tony sitting down in a chair.

"You guys don't have to, you're working. Wait did you leave Darcy down there?"

"She took the day off." Says Tony. "Jarvis can you turn the tv on?"

"Of course ."

"We'll stay." Says Bruce.

"Thanks." I whisper. Five minutes later I start feeling nauseous again. "I'm going to puke."

"Trash can?" Ask Tony.

"Bathroom." Right as he sets it down i throw up. "I thought I was done." I groan closing my eyes again.

"Sorry." Says Bruce.

Fifteen minutes later Steve gets off the elevator and comes and bends down in front of me. "Hey, you feeling any better?"

"No."

"How long has she been on the IV?" He ask Bruce.

"Thirty minutes, it might take a while." He says. "I'll stay up here till we can take her off of it."

"Thanks." He says before looking back at me. "Do you need anything?"

"No, can you come sit with me?"

"Yeah, where do you want me?"

I sit up for a second and let him sit before laying my head in his lap. He runs his fingers through my hair and I close my eyes.

"How was the meeting?" Ask Tony.

"Fine, I left in the middle and was supposed to have more but this was more important. I think Phil just may come over later."

"That's fine." I whisper. "I was supposed to finish some paperwork for him."

"Later." Says Steve.

"I'm just sitting here."

"Later." He replies back.

"Fine."

It takes three hours to get to the point where I start feeling better. Bruce leaves giving me strict orders to take it easy the rest of the day. Once Bruce and Tony leave Steve offers to make lunch.

"What do you want?" He ask from the kitchen.

"Do we still have soup?"

"I'll reheat it." He says.

I get up to grab my laptop, glasses, and paperwork out of our room and then go sit back down on the couch with a blanket. It snowed a few days ago and no matter how hard we try the apartment is still cold. Steve comes back a few minutes later and hands me a bowl of soup before sitting on the other end of the couch. I put my feet on his lap and he laughs.

"You have your glasses on." He says smiling.

"Didn't feel like putting my contacts in, I need to work though."

"I like them."

"Usually they get in the way but for desk work it's fine."

"What exactly do you need to work on?"

"I'm sorting through candidates."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

I finish lunch before grabbing my laptop and the files off the coffee table and working. At around five Phil calls offering to bring dinner. He comes up an hour later with Chinese take out in hand.

"I brought dinner."

"You're amazing." I say.

"Where is Steve?" He ask.

"Showering, he should be out soon."

"Your noodles." He says handing me a box.

"Thanks." I say setting my laptop down.

"You feeling better?" He ask sitting down in a chair. I'm still occupying the whole couch.

"Yeah." I say smiling.

"How far along are you?"

"Almost three and a half months, just taking it a week at a time."

"And I'm assuming you both are excited."

"So excited. So what is this little meeting about?"

"We need to review your evaluations actually. Still trying to decide who we need to cut."

"I'm still working on Group B."

"That's fine, I really appreciate your help with training."

"I get to yell at them, it's not a problem."

"Hey Phil." Says Steve walking out from the hallway.

"Hello."

"Thanks for dinner."

"No problem."

"Sorry about leaving earlier."

"Don't apologize, I understand completely why you did it."

"Thanks, so recruits?"

"You ready to dive in."

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Three hours later the three of us have gone through every single applicant in Group A and pulled out the ones we think are loyal and useful and decided on which ones to get rid of.

"Thanks guys." Say Phil packing his stuff up.

"No problem." I yawn.

"See you later Phil." Says Steve getting up to throw away trash.

I get up and kiss him while he cleans. "I'm going to shower."

"Okay."

Once I finish I put one of Steve's shirts on with a pair of leggings and go out in the kitchen to find him eating ice cream. He freezes when he sees me.

"Care to share." I laugh.

He pulls out a spoon from the drawer and hands it to me. "Here you go."

"Thanks." I laugh. "It's 28 degrees outside and we are eating ice cream."

"It's the logical thing." He laughs.

"We're you going to eat all of this without me."

"I wasn't going to eat it all." He says.

"You never leave it full." I laugh.

"And you never wear your shirts." He says pointing to his shirt.

"All of yours are so comfortable though, and mine are all fitted."

"I'm running out of shirts." He laughs.

"I'll buy you more."

"So you can wear them?"

"So I can wear them." I go to eat more ice cream but my spoon comes out empty. "Damn."

"I'll go get more tomorrow."

"Along with the shirts?" I laugh.

"You're a mess." He laughs.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, but you're my mess." He says kissing me.

"Sap." I mumble as he kisses me again.

"I know."

Before I got in the shower I noticed a slight bump on my stomach so I take his hand and move it there. "Do you feel that?" I ask looking at him.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah." I smile.

"Oh my gosh." He says smiling.

"This still seems crazy to me, in a good way." I say.

"I know what you mean, you ready for bed?" He ask.

"Yeah." I whisper.

We walk to our room and he changes before laying down next to me.

"I love you." I say.

"I love you too." He whispers kissing my neck. And I know he means it.

Steve's POV

It's about a month later when I get a call from Natasha at 7:30 in the morning. Both Alex and I are sleeping so when the phone rings we both groan.

"Who is it?" She ask tiredly.

"Natasha." I say picking it up. "What's up?" I ask trying to sound awake.

"We found Sitwell."

"Where?" I ask sitting up.

"He was in D.C. We have the Feds holding him until we can get there. Be ready to leave in an hour."

"How long will we be there."

"Two days tops, Phil wants you to integrate him."

"Alright, I'll meet you at the hanger." I say hanging up.

"Where are you off to?" Ask Alex.

"D.C. for two days tops. They found Sitwell."

"Oh, you know I never really trusted him, he hated me."

"I'm not too happy with him." I say getting out of bed.

"When do you leave?"

"An hour."

"Okay, I'll go make breakfast." She says getting out of bed and kissing me. "I'm borrowing a sweatshirt."

"Go ahead." I laugh.

I shower and get dressed before throwing some stuff in a bag and heading to the kitchen. I pour myself some coffee and Alex hands me a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. She sits down next to me with some tea and the same breakfast.

"You going to be okay with me gone?"

"I'll be fine, I'll just hang with Sam and Darcy while you're off having fun." She smiles. "Maybe find Bruce a girlfriend."

"Hopefully they found more than just Sitwell."

"Hopefully, I'm glad they got him."

"Me too."

We talk for 15 more minutes and finish breakfast and I look down at my watch and see that I need to leave.

"I need to go, I'm sorry." I say getting up.

"Don't worry about it. Be careful okay?"

"Of course." I say pulling her towards me. "Love you gorgeous." I say kissing her.

"Love you too soldier."

I grab my bag and kiss her one last time before getting on the elevator. I go down to the garage and throw my bag in the car before heading to the hanger where we keep a few quinjets. I get there to see Clint, Natasha, and Phil. I turn the car off and grab my bag before heading over to them.

"Morning." Says Clint.

"How's it going?"

"Better now that we have Sitwell." He says back.

"I know what you mean. So what's the deal?" I ask Phil.

"I needed you three to help me interrogate him and a few others. Shouldn't take too long unless they don't corporate."

"Oh they will." Says Natasha.

"Is that a promise?" Laughs Clint.

"More than that." She says grabbing her bag. "Let's go boys."

It takes us a few hours but once we get to D.C. We check into our hotel before heading down to where they are being held. The four of us pile into a room and on the other side we see Sitwell.

"Who wants to go first?" Ask Phil.

"He needs a woman's touch." Smirks Natasha walking out.

"Oh this should be good." Laughs Clint.

The three of us watch as Natasha walks into the room and Sitwell looks up at her and smirks.

"What, the boys too scared to come talk."

"Oh no, we are just starting things off with a bang, they'll have their turns."

"I'm shaking." He dead pans.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, well actually as to not give you false hope I was here for several of you. Hawkboy, Captain Ice, and the Russian Princess were all apart of the deal too. I'm assuming that since we didn't start with Alex that means she isn't here."

"Like I said we are starting off with a bang. You know for a top level Hydra agent you sure got caught pretty easily, loosing your touch I see."

"How do you know I'm not trying to get caught."

Clint speaks into the com link. "Don't let him mess with your head."

"They wouldn't send you in for something as easy as this, I'm not stupid." She says to him.

"I know, never under estimate the widow, she's deadly." He smirks.

"She's playing cat and mouse." I say to Clint. "I know she can grill him what is she doing."

"Just wait." He says.

"Stop staling Sitwell, why were you looking for us?"

"Cap I want to talk to you." Says Sitwell. He knows we are watching.

"Go for it Steve." Says Phil.

Nat walks out of the room and stops me before I go in.

"Grill that creep." She says.

"You got it."

I walk in the room and lean against the wall looking at him with a straight face.

"You wanted to speak, here I am."

"You thought you defeated Hydra back all those years ago when really it's everywhere now. Your best friend even works for us."

"You brainwashed him." I say keeping a straight face. "It's not willingly I can tell you that. Why are you here Sitwell?"

"I was told to bring you in."

"Just me?"

"The four of you."

"Why?"

"You pose as a threat to us, trying to rebuild Shield. It's a stupid decision."

"They gave you a second chance that you didn't deserve." I say.

"Your wife didn't deserve it either." He says.

I walk away from the wall and put my hands on the table staring him down. "Want to repeat that?"

"Alex didn't deserve that second chance. She arguably has more Red on her ledger than Natasha. How can you love someone who has taken so many lives. How can you raise a child with her. A women who has killed dozens of children and hundreds of people. Doesn't that disgust you, to know that the person you share your life with is a ruthless killer."

At this point I'm beyond angry, my anger clouds all my better judgment and in one motion I pick him up by his shirt and thrown him against the wall before punching him.

"I'm going to say this and I'm only going to say this once. You so much as mutter my wife's name again or talk about my child I will not hesitate to make you suffer in agony for every last second of your life because if you keep talking it won't last much longer. Do you understand me."

"Crystal clear." He smirks.

"Let me just wipe that smirk off your face." I say punching him again. I drop him to the floor and walk out of the room fuming. Natasha and Clint are waiting outside for me.

"I'll go finish him." Says Clint walking into the room.

"Take a breath." Says Natasha.

"That son of a bitch." I mutter.

"I've never seen you that angry." She says.

"He had no right to talk about her like that."

"Call her." She says handing me my phone.

"Thanks."

I dial Alex's number and wait for her to pick up. She picks up on the first ring.

"Hey." She says.

"Hi." I say sighing.

"What's wrong?" She ask worriedly.

"I just needed to hear your voice."

"Steve..."

"I beat the shit out of Sitwell, let's just say he pushed all the wrong buttons with me."

"He deserves it although I'm surprised Natasha didn't do it first."

"Clint's finishing him off." I laugh a little.

"You sound better already." She says in a way that I know she is smiling.

"You have that effect on me." I smile. "What are you up to?"

"Laying in bed, I was going to be social but I miss you."

"I miss you too." I say. "You should go see Bruce, that doesn't require too much talking."

"Maybe, maybe I'll stay up here."

"Alex." I say scolding her. She has a tendency to hide away when I'm not home.

"Calm down I have dinner plans with Sam and Darcy." She laughs.

"Okay." I say.

We stay silent for a minute. "I love you." She says.

"I love you more." I say.

"Not possible." She says.

"If you say so." I smile. "I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow. Call if you need anything."

"I will, be careful."

"Always am. Bye gorgeous."

"Bye."

And then I hang up. I get up and walk back into the room to see Phil and Natasha watching Clint beat the shit out of Sitwell.

"What happened?"

"He had some pint up anger and wasn't too happy about the way he talked about Alex." smirks Natasha. "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah."

"How is she?"

"Fine, keeping to herself as usual." I smile.

"She doesn't like when you leave."

"I know and I don't like leaving her but it's part of the job."

"She has training tomorrow, that's why I'd don't have her come I needed her there. That and the fact that she hates flying and is almost five months pregnant. I figured it wouldn't have been my greatest idea." Says Phil.

"Good idea." I say as Clint walks in.

"Anyone else?" He ask.

"I think he's had enough. That's enough for tonight, you guys want to go get dinner?" Ask Phil.

"Sounds great." I say.

After dinner I go back to my room and read a bit before falling asleep. At two in the morning my phone rings and it's Alex, I panic.

"What's wrong?" I ask picking up.

"I just needed to talk." She says.

"What happened?" I ask sitting up.

"Nightmare..."

"Red Room?"

"Yeah, just freaked me out."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, just needed to hear your voice."

"I can stay on as long as you need me to."

"Thank you." She says quietly.

"So how was dinner?" I ask trying to change the subject.

"It was fun." She says.

"Good. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I was looking at names earlier."

"Find any you like?"

"Well for a girl I like Abigail or Karina and for a boy I like James."

"James?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, in honor of Bucky, unless you like something else."

"No I love it, I love all of those."

"Good, I'm glad...I miss you."

"I know I miss you too." I sigh. "I'll be home by...tonight I guess." I laugh.

"Yeah sorry about waking you up."

"You can always wake me up."

We talk for another half hour before we decide to go to bed but it's not till four that I go back to sleep. When we meet in the lobby the next day Clint laughs a little when he see's me.

"You look so tired."

"I think I got three hours of sleep." I say taking a cup of coffee from Natasha.

"Why?" She ask.

"Alex called at two, she had a nightmare and we talked for a while and then I just couldn't go back to sleep."

"You're the super soldier, you're not aloud to get tired." Smirks Clint.

"Why are you such a morning person." I groan.

"I ask myself that every morning." Says Natasha.

"You guys ready to go? The sooner we go the sooner we can go home." Says Phil.

"Lets go." I say.

We interrogate the rest of the agents brought in before Natasha takes one more turn with Sitwell. He doesn't say much but Maria and Fury are coming out in a few days so we will see after that. Once we are done it's already 3 so we go straight to the hanger and fly back home. Clint, Natasha, and I stop to pick up dinner before heading back to the tower. The three of us go up to Alex and I's floor and when the elevator door opens I don't see Alex anywhere so I leave Clint and Natasha in the kitchen. I walk into our room to find her asleep with her glasses on and paper work all over the bed. I laugh a little before sitting down on the bed and kissing her head. She opens her eyes and it takes a second but when she see's me she smiles.

"When did you get home?" she ask hugging me.

"Just now, Clint and Natasha are in the kitchen, we have dinner."

"I missed you." She says.

"I missed you too." I say kissing her. "You ready for dinner?"

"Yeah."

She fixes her hair before we walk to the kitchen where Clint and Natasha are already eating.

"Hi Alex." Says Clint with a mouthful of food.

"You hungry Clint?" She laughs sitting down next to Natasha.

"Maybe...nice glasses."

"I'm getting to the point where I only put my contacts in if I'm training." She says.

"What have you been up to?" Ask Natasha.

"Yesterday nothing. Today I had training till 2 and then I was working on paperwork but I ended up just falling asleep."

"What paperwork could you possibly have?" Ask Clint.

"Written reports for new recruits, evaluations, files for new candidates, you name it I probably have it."

"You hate paperwork." I laugh.

"I know, now I just hate it even more now."

"Well you missed and interesting interrogation." Laughs Clint.

"I heard, what got Steve so worked up?"

"Uh..." I mutter.

"What's the only thing that would send Steve over the edge to the point where he gets violent?" Ask Natasha.

"Anything having to do with me..."

"Bingo." Says Clint.

"What did he do?"

"He wasn't speaking very highly of you." I say.

"I never liked him anyway." She says. "Thanks for defending me though." She smiles at me.

"Clint helped." I laugh.

"Of course you did." She says looking at him.

"I've been wanting to do it for years, it was a good excuse."

We sit there talking for a few more hours just enjoying ourselves. It's these times when I'm most thankful for the people around me, when we can have fun doing absolutely nothing.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Steve's POV

The next month is spent in meetings and more meetings. I feel like that's all I do anymore. In the mornings I work out before grabbing a quick breakfast with Alex and then leaving to meet with Phil or Fury or Maria. I don't get home till 5 or 6 most nights and it's starting to wear on me. Alex swears she is fine with it but I can tell it's starting to weigh on her too which is the last thing she needs right now. I walk into the apartment one after noon and plop down on our bed where Alex is working.

"Hi." She says.

"Hi." I mumble into the pillow.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Steve..."

"I don't want to talk right now." I snap at her on accident.

She is quiet for a second. "I'm going to see if Pepper needs help with dinner." she says walking out of the room.

"Alex, I'm sorry." I yell after her. I decide to give her a few minutes to cool off.

I feel bad for snapping at her, all the stress is just building up. On top of trying to rebuild shield I'm stressed about Alex. It's looking more and more like the baby is going to come early. She is already worried about that, she doesn't need me snapping at her. Five minutes later I get up and go up to the community floor. I get up there to find her, Darcy, Pepper, and Natasha in the kitchen. She turns around to look at me before returning to her conversation with Natasha. I walk over to her and she looks at me.

"Now you want to talk?" she ask.

"Come here." I say grabbing her hand. We walk to the couch and she sits down next to me. "I'm sorry I snapped at you I'm just stressed out right now. I know you are too so I shouldn't be using that as an excuse."

"It's okay." she says kissing me. "I know when you need space, we have been married almost a year." she says.

"You're not upset?"

"No, I get it." she smiles at me.

'I will never understand how you two can get over a disagreement that quickly." laughs Darcy from the kitchen.

"It's impossible to stay mad at this one." says Alex.

About a week after that is when things start to go downhill. I wake up in the middle of the night one night to Alex moving around.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Alex..."

"I'm fine." she whispers.

10 minutes later she takes in a sharp breath. "Alex what's wrong?"

"It hurts." she whispers.

"What does." I ask sitting up.

"My stomach, it feels like someone is stabbing me."

The two of us don't waist any time going down to medical. Bruce meets us down there, he was already up in the lab as per usual. I'm trying to stay calm for Alex but on the inside I'm freaking out.

"How long have you been feeling the pain?" ask Bruce.

"The last thirty minutes." says Alex.

"You're having contractions, I'm going to do what I can to stop them since your only seven months but we need to be prepared incase this baby decides to come earlier. On the down side that means I'm going to have to keep you down here till that happens."

"Okay." she says quietly.

I squeeze her hand and she squeezes back without looking at me. After Bruce gives her medicine she goes back to sleep but I stay awake, there is too much running through my head. At around seven I get up and go change before going down to the gym, I need to relieve stress. I'm on my second punching bag when Sam walks in.

"Hey." He says.

"Hi." I say still working at it.

"Alex asked me to come look for you. Figured you would either be here or up in your studio."

I stop to look at him. "Is she by herself?"

"Natasha is down there right now."

"I should go get cleaned up first." I say unwrapping my hands.

"If you guys need anything just let us know."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

I run up to our apartment and take a quick shower and change before heading back down. I walk into Alex's room to see her talking to Natasha.

"I'm sorry I needed to go do something." I say kissing her head.

"It's okay, I get it." she says smiling at me. She looks tense.

"I have to go but i'll be back later. Steve according to Phil your not aloud to come to any more meetings until this is resolved." says Natasha.

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Good, I'll see you guys later."

"Bye." says Alex

Once Natasha leaves I sit down on the bed and look at her. "What's wrong?"

"I just don't like being down here and I know I need to be down here I just associate it with bad things."

"Just take a deep breath, try not to stress too much okay?"

"Yeah." she whispers. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just needed to go let off some steam."

"Did you sleep"

"No."

"Steve." she scolds.

"It's fine." I smile at her.

"Okay." she smiles.

As the days go on we get more and more anxious. Nothing gets worse but it also doesn't get much better. Alex is getting restless and I can tell but she also knows it's what she needs to be doing. It's out of pure luck that Bruce lets her leave for two hours on our anniversary to go eat dinner in our apartment. While I make dinner she lays down on the couch. Once it's ready we sit at the table.

"We still have an hour and a half." She smiles across from me.

"I made pretty good time." I laugh.

"What a crazy year." she says. "I couldn't have done any of it without you."

"Nor I without you." I smile.

After we eat Alex looks at me. "Dance with me."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

'One dance, it's all I'm asking for, please."

"If Bruce ask you stayed sitting the whole time."

"I knew you would say yes." she smirks.

"And why is that?"

"You can't say no to me." she says wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me. We sway for a minute before she speaks up. "It's like our first date." she whispers.

"Yup." I say kissing her forehead. "That was a fun night."

"Changed my perspective on a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"I realized that not all guys are out to hurt me and use me, I realized I had found someone who genuinely cared about me and enjoyed my company and I found someone who could love me for me."

"You got that all from four hours with me?"

"And more, you're an open book when you are comfortable around someone."

"I love you gorgeous." I whisper against her forehead before gently kissing it.

"I love you too."

Then I get a text from Bruce. "Time to go." I say a little disappointed.

"It was fun while it lasted." She smiles.

Once we get back down to medical and get Alex hooked back up to everything I sit on the bed next to her and she lays her head on my shoulder.

"You know what I just realized." she says.

"What?"

"We don't have a nursery done."

What she didn't know was that Tony had been planning on something for months."Let me worry about that." I say.

"I'm not ready for this." she whispers.

"You're plenty ready." I say.

"No I'm not, I can't even take care of this baby while it's still inside of me, I have been down here for almost two weeks. I didn't have a normal childhood, I was raised to be an assassin. I have no idea what I'm doing."

I sit up to look at her and I see a tear coming down her face. I wipe it away before speaking. "Hey, it's okay. You think I know what i'm doing either, I don't, but we are going to figure it out together. I think two people that work for a top level government agency can figure out how to raise a kid." that makes her laugh. "Just take a deep breath and relax, it's all going to be okay."

"Thank you." she whispers.

"It's my pleasure." I smile.

"Are you doing okay, I feel like everyone keeps asking how I am but not you."

"I was stressed out the first few days but I know that everything is going to be okay." I say leaning back again.

"It's always okay." she whispers before drifting off to sleep.

The next day I go to work out in the morning and I'm down there an hour before Clint comes down looking slightly panicked.

"What?" I ask.

"It's Alex, she started having pain about ten minutes ago and then the baby's heart rate started to drop. Bruce had to knock her out cause she was in so much pain and he is having to do an emergency c-section."

I run past him and instead of waiting on the elevator I head up the stairs as quickly as I can. Natasha is up there when I get there.

"Where is she?" I ask frantically.

"Bruce has her, she is going to be fine." she says.

"I wasn't up here." I say. "I was only gone an hour."

"Hey don't beat yourself up, none of us were expecting this, not even Bruce but he knows what he is doing, they are both going to be fine."

I walk down the hallway a bit before slumping down. Clint and Natasha are standing there whispering to each other and at some point everyone else comes down but I keep to myself, I'm still trying to process how it all happened to quick. After what feels like hours Bruce comes out and sits next to me.

"How's Alex?"

"She is doing great, just need to wait for the meds to wear off and she'll be up."

"And the baby?"

"You have a beautiful little girl." he smiles.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she is very small but healthy. We are going to need to keep her here for a while to continue to grow but I see no reason for her to have any problems. I can take you to see her if you want."

"Yes, please." I stand up and look at the group. "One second." I say to Bruce. I walk over to them. "Both of them are fine, Alex and I have a little girl." I smile, everyone lets out a sigh of relief. I look at Clint and Natasha. "I need you two to come with me." I say before turning around to follow Bruce.

"Where are we going?" Ask Clint.

"We are going to see your god daughter." I tell them.

"What?" ask Natasha.

"We were going to ask you guys a while ago it just kinda slipped our minds, only if you guys want to." I say.

"Of course we do." says Natasha.

"Good then lets go meet her." I smile.

Bruce leads us to another room and when we walk in I see our little girl in a incubator with breathing tubes and feeding tubes. She is tiny. I walk over and look at her.

"She is beautiful." I whisper.

"Do you guys have a name?" ask Bruce.

"Abigail."

"It's perfect." whispers Clint.

"She is perfect." says Natasha.

"She is." I say.

That's my little girl, she is only minutes old and already has me wrapped around her finger.

Alex's POV

When I begin to regain consciousness I feel a hand on mine. I slowly open my eyes and see Steve smiling at me.

"Hey." he whispers.

"Is the baby okay?" I ask hoarsely.

"She is fine."

She...we have a little girl. "It's a girl?"

"Yeah." he smiles. "She is small but healthy."

"Abigail." I smile. "We have a daughter."

"I know." he says kissing my hand.

"Wait is she by herself?" I asked panicked for a second.

"Clint and Tasha are with her, the rest of the team is outside of where they have her, Bruce only wants two at a time."

"Did you tell Clint and Nat?"

"Yeah."

"Good." I smile. "When can I see her?"

"That's up to Bruce, I imagine once the meds wear off a little more. Are your stitches okay?"

"Yeah."

Just then Clint and Natasha come in. "Came to check in." says Clint. "Good to see you awake."

"You feeling okay." ask Natasha.

"Yeah, who is with Abigail?"

"Tony and Pepper, Tony shed a tear." laughs Natasha.

"Just a single tear, it was kinda sweet." says Clint.

"He has such a soft spot." laughs Steve.

"She is beautiful guys." says Natasha. "Obviously too early to tell who she looks like but she is beautiful."

"Has anyone held her?" I ask.

"Not yet, we wanted you to be the first." Says Steve.

Bruce comes in a few minutes later. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad actually." I say.

"Good, I'll let you go see Abigail as soon as the meds have worn off all the way, I'm sure you're still feeling a little foggy."

"Just a little bit."

"Just give it a little bit, I'm going to go check on her again, let me know if you need anything. Is it okay if I send everyone your way?"

"Go for it." I smile.

A few minutes later Sam, Darcy, Pepper, and Tony all walk in, Thor and Jane are on Asgard again and we don't really have a way to contact them.

"Congratulations you guys, she is precious." says Pepper giving me a hug.

"Thank you." I whisper.

"She is going to be so spoiled." says Darcy.

"You're telling me." says Steve.

"Already has me wrapped around he finger." says Tony. "She isn't even my kid."

"Imagine how Steve feels." laughs Sam. "You're going to have your hands full when she gets older."

"Especially if she takes after Alex." Laughs Clint.

"Oh my gosh." says Steve.

"Alright lets not stress the poor guy out." says Natasha.

"So what's her full name?" ask Pepper.

"Abigail Sofia Rodgers." I say. "Sofia was my sister's name." I smile.

"That's sweet." says Darcy.

"The middle name was Steve's idea." I smile at him.

"Good taste." says Tony.

"You're just a big softy today." I laugh at Tony.

"This is exciting stuff." he says.

"I couldn't agree more."

Thirty minutes later Bruce finally lets me go to see my little girl. It takes some convincing but I get them to let me walk. After being cooped up in bed for two weeks I need to walk. Steve helps me since I can't exactly stand up straight because of the stitches but we make it there. My first reaction when I see her is a little bit of shock. She is so tiny and is hooked up to so many tubes a wires but once i get past the shock I'm beyond happy, she is actually here.

"She is perfect." I whisper.

"So perfect." says Steve kissing my head.

I stick my hand in the incubator and place my finger in her hand, her tiny little hand. Her small hand slowly wraps itself around my finger and I'm speechless.

"You are so loved Abigail." I whisper.

"Bruce said we could hold her in a few days." Steve whispers in my ear.

"I can't wait."

We stay that way a little long before I let Steve do that same thing. She is smaller than his hand but he is so gentle with her. I lean my head on him and he wraps his free arm around me kissing my head again. We stay there for fifteen more minutes before I begrudgingly agree to go back to my room to get off my feet. Natasha and Clint stay with us the whole day taking turns stay with Abigail, none of us want her alone and everyone else checks in. At some point Fury, Phil and Maria even come up. Phil was so excited to be an "uncle" and Maria was pretty excited about it as well. Fury was pretty straight faced but Natasha later told me that he had a huge smile on his face when he saw her. Later that night Steve and I finally have a few minutes alone.

"I'm beginning to think we can do this."I say.

"Me too." He smiles.

"It's doesn't feel real."

"It will once we hold her."

"We are lucky to have everyone to help us."

"Not sure I could have handled this all other wise." he laughs.

"Captain America not able to handle something, that's unheard of." I laugh.

"Whatever." he laughs.

"I love you." I say seriously. "And I know we say it all the time but I do, I really do."

"I love you too, always will." He says kissing me, and then Tony walks in with dinner.

"Woah you guys just had one kid, wait a while till you have another."

"There is the annoying we all know and don't love." I say.

"I can just take dinner and leave."

"Kidding totally kidding."

"That's what I thought. Who is with munchkin?"

"You have a nickname already?" I ask.

"Yes, now who is with her. I already ate and would be happy to relieve some people of their duty."

"I think it was Sam and Darcy."

"Great, I'll send everyone else here for food."

Pepper walks in a few minutes later. "Where did Tony go?" She ask handing me a drink.

"He was switching with Sam and Darcy."

"He is going to absolutely spoil her." She laughs.

"I've never seen him like this." Says Steve.

"He has a soft spot for kids." She smiles.

It's a few days later when we get to hold her for the first time. When Bruce hands her to me it all becomes real, very real. Steve and I are now responsible for another person, but I wouldn't change it for the world.


	17. Chapter 16

So I saw Age of Ultron and my heart... oh my gosh it was so good. So for those of you who have seen it you obviously know that this story is set in an alternate universe. I am still going to incorporate the story line into my story but it's going to be a little different so be looking for that, thanks guys!

Chapter 16

Alex's POV

A few weeks later Bruce clears me to start working out again and Abigail is still on the medical floor but she is improving. Steve and I's daily routine typically looks like us working out in the mornings before spending a few hours with Abigail, going to meetings, and then going back to Abigail. Currently we are in the gym.

"Go again." I say to Steve catching my breath.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

We get ready to fight again and this time I actually get him. Not as fast as I would have liked to but I still got him.

"There it is." He laughs.

"It's coming back to me." I say getting off of him.

"It never left." He says giving me a quick kiss. "Let's go shower."

We take turns showering and Steve makes breakfast before we go down to the medical floor. Bruce is with Abigail when we get down there.

"I just took her breathing tube out, so far so good." Says Bruce.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah, I have a theory."

"The serum." Says Steve.

"The serum." Nods Bruce. "I would have to run some test to make sure but it can wait."

"When will she be able to leave?" I ask sticking my finger in her hand, she grasp is lightly.

"I would say a few days I mean it's been almost a month and she is doing well."

"Thank you Bruce." Says Steve.

"It's no problem, quiet frankly I wouldn't trust anyone else with her." He says smiling down at her. "Stupid interns." He laughs.

"You get me." I laugh.

A little bit later Steve is holding her while I sit next to him when Tony, Clint, and Natasha walk in.

"You guys are going out tonight." Says Tony.

"What?" I ask.

"I made you two a reservation down the street, five minutes walking distance. The rest of us are going to stay here with munchkin, that's seven of us."

"Uh." Says Steve.

"When is the last time you guys went out. Your anniversary was spent almost entirely down here." Says Natasha.

"You guys have a lot on your plate, go have fun." Says Clint. "We've got her."

"I'm not sure." I say hesitantly.

"It's three hours tops." Says Tony.

I look at Steve for an answer. "It could be fun."

"Okay." I smile.

"Easier than I thought." Says Tony. "If you see her tell Darcy if she has time I need her help." He says walking out.

"How is B today?" Ask Clint pulling up a chair. They have so many nicknames for her.

"No breathing tube." I smile.

"She looks good." Says Natasha sitting in Clint's lap.

"You want to hold her?" Steve ask Natasha.

"I would love to."

Steve gently hands her to Natasha before grabbing my hand. "Do we still have that meeting today?" He ask.

"Yeah." I sigh.

"Is that the one with the new agents?" Ask Clint.

"Yeah." Says Natasha. "Laying down the law." She smirks.

"What's was the final count?" I ask.

"Seven guys, eight girls." Says Steve. "Some of the guys were too inexperienced or too cocky, not easy to work with."

"Sounds about right." I say. "I had trouble with a few during training. They wouldn't listen."

"When do we pick the second group?" Ask Natasha.

"Next month." Says Steve.

"We're growing." I smile.

"Slowly but yes we are." Says Steve.

A few minutes later we leave to go up to our meeting. We leave Pepper with Abbey and head up a few floors to the offices. Phil and Maria are waiting for us when we get up there.

"They all here?" I ask.

"Yup, waiting on you guys. How is Abbey today?" Ask Phil.

"Bruce took her breathing tube out this morning, she should be able to leave in a few days." Says Steve.

"That's good to hear." Says Maria. "You guys ready?"

"Let's go." Says Nat.

We walk into the conference room where all the new agents are sitting. They are all silent and look at us. While they are technically all new agents their training is not over.

"Agents these are your supervisors, I'm sure we don't need to make introductions." Says Maria.

"Welcome everyone." Says Steve. "I'm sure you all know why you are here, we are trying to rebuild shield."

"You all were chosen because we saw potential." I say. "Your training however is not over."

"Physically we know what you can do but mentally we need to know what you can handle. This job is not just fighting bad guys. It's being able to think fast and work under pressure." Says Natasha.

"It's going to be grueling but if you make it out it will be worth it." Says Clint.

"Not only are we going to see what you can do as an individual but we are also going to test your ability to work in teams and pairs." Says Steve.

"Any questions?" I ask. One agent raises her hand. "Go ahead."

"How long will the training last?"

"A few months." Says Natasha. "It's going to be hard, sometimes maybe more than you can handle so know that you need to drop out if you can't handle it. We need a team that can handle the pressure."

"Any more questions?" Ask Clint.

"None, good. Training starts tomorrow, see you all there." They all leave the room and we sit down to talk game plan.

"How many do you think we'll loose?" I ask.

"There is always one ore two that think they can handle it but can't." Says Phil.

"You guys picked a good group." Says Maria.

"Alex helped narrow it down, she trained them." Says Steve.

"With the help of you guys, Natasha kicked ass when needed."

"It was a lot with some of the people we cut." She laughs.

"Are all four of us training tomorrow?" Ask Clint.

"That's the plan." Says Steve.

"Has Fury met with them?" I ask.

"He has and he agrees with your choices." Says Maria.

"Good." Says Steve.

We sit talking for another hour and a half talking about how to go about training them when Clint looks up at the clock.

"You guys gotta leave in an hour." He says.

"Where are you going?" Ask Phil.

"They are forcing us to go out." I say.

"They think we need a break." Says Steve.

"I mean it has been a stressful couple of months." Says Maria.

"It's dinner, that's it." Says Natasha.

"Yeah but Abbey..." I say.

"Is very cute and hard to stay away from I know. But this may be the last time you get to do this for a while." She says back.

"Not likely with how much time everyone wants to spend with her." Mumbles Steve.

"You guys have a cute kid." Says Clint. "Who happens to have a very big family who loves her."

"Go get ready and have fun." Says Natasha. "I'll send updates."

"Fine." I say getting up.

"It's two hours, you'll be back by bedtime." Yells Clint as we walk out.

"Have fun." Says Maria.

Steve and I go up to our floor and change. I put on a light pink dress that almost reaches my knees and a pair of black heels before touching up my makeup. I walk into the kitchen and Steve smiles at me.

"Gorgeous." He whispers kissing me.

"You don't look to bad yourself." I smile.

"You ready?"

"Yeah." I smile grabbing his hand.

We walk to dinner which is at a small French restaurant two blocks from the tower. We sit at a table in the back, it's nice. About halfway through I get a text from Natasha. It's a picture of Sam asleep in a chair with Abbey asleep on him. I laugh and show it to Steve.

"Long day?" He laughs.

"She said he was testing stuff with Tony all day so I guess so." I smile. "You know what, it's weird to me that we have a kid but we haven't had her home yet. Like we are parents but we don't have the full responsibility yet." I say.

"I guess we are easing into it but you're right it is weird."

We finish up dinner and slowly head back to the tower. We go up to medical to check on Abigail before going to bed and when we walk in we see the whole team sitting there talking and Clint holding Abbey.

"Look at that B, they made it through a whole dinner." Laughs Clint.

"Have a nice nap Sam?" I ask picking her up.

"You guys took a picture?" Ask Sam.

"Guilty." Says Natasha.

"It was so cute." Says Darcy. "Oh also I got a hold of Jane by some miracle, they are coming back in a few days."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yup, sounds like they may be staying for a while too."

"Good." I smile.

"Did you guys have fun?" Ask Pepper.

"Yes, it was great, thank you guys." Says Steve.

"Did she do okay?" I ask.

"Great." Says Bruce. "I'm thinking the day after tomorrow we can release her."

"That's good to hear." I smile. I look down to see her back asleep so I gently hand her to Steve.

We stay in there talking a little longer before everyone heads off to bed, then it's just Steve and I. We both kiss her head before setting her down and going upstairs ourselves to get some rest. Two more days, that's it."

Steve's POV

The next morning Alex and I are up by 6 to start training the new agents. Natasha and Clint meet us in the gym by 6:30 and the agents get there a few minutes later. We put them in pairs and one group of three given the odd number of people before giving them instructions.

"Your task is to work as a group against the opposing team, pretend that they are the enemy. We want to see your ability to work together and create a strategy." I say.

"We know how you work alone but you won't always get solo missions in fact it is more common to get group missions." Says Natasha.

"We'll give you a minute to talk before you go starting now." says Alex.

They each talk to their partner before Clint tells them to go. We all walk around and while they are doing well they are struggling slightly, it's good for the first time though. By the end of the session they have worked with everyone in the room and that's when we split them in half and have them work in a bigger group, that works well surprisingly. After two hours of training we let them go and the four of us head up for breakfast.

"How was it ask Sam?" as we sit down.

"Not bad for the first time." I say.

"What's tomorrow?" ask Bruce.

"Lie detection." smiles Natasha deviously. "Always my favorite to run, they get really nervous the first time."

"And it's always for nothing, we ask them simple questions." laughs Clint.

"I like running the sims." says Alex. "Not because I enjoy watching them face their biggest fears but because I like to see how they channel the fear and keep going. But that's not till next week."

"That slightly scars me." says Tony.

"It's actually pretty interesting." she says. "I didn't handle it well the first time around but we don't need to go into that right now." she says finishing off her food.

"You in a hurry?" I ask her.

"I just want to go see Abbey." she smiles. "You coming?"

"Give me two seconds." I smile. I gulp down the rest of my food before washing off my plate. "Alright lets go." I say grabbing her hand.

"I'll be right there." says Bruce.

"Sounds good." I say as the elevator door closes.

Once we get down there Alex picks her up. "Привет детка." (Hi baby)

She opens her little eyes and it makes me smile. "Sweet girl." I say over Alex's shoulder. "One more day."

"We have waited a month for this and now that we only have one more day I feel like it can't come soon enough."

"We have waited this long, what's one more day." I laugh.

"An eternity." She smiles.

The next day Alex and I get up to go train ourselves, not the new agents and as soon as we finish we go down to medical to get Abbey. We sign discharge papers which we technically have to do and then the three of us go upstairs, our little family. We set her down in her crib to let her continue sleeping and Alex and I sit there and just watch her. Tony, Natasha, Clint, and I did the nursery. Alex didn't know about it until after Abigail was born, she really liked it. I did all the painting in the room. The walls are pink and then above her crib I painted her name, I got to get creative on something other than paper. It's almost completely normal except Tony had to be Tony and put a few Captain America things in there. For instance her got her a onesie with my shield on the front. First my wife then my daughter, I can't win. I look over at Alex who is just intently watching Abigail.

"I don't want to leave her alone." she whispers.

"We are going to have to do it at some point." I smile.

"Not yet, just a few more minutes."

"Of course." I say kissing her head.

We stand there a few more minutes before she looks up. "We should probably eat." she says.

"Lets go eat then."

We walk into the kitchen and Alex turn the baby monitor on while I get stuff out to make pancakes. She makes coffee and hands me a mug and then sits on the counter next to the stove and sips hers. We make it all the way through breakfast before Abigail wakes up. Alex feeds her and she stays awake for about two hours before going back to sleep. We do dinner on our floor that night with everyone, a celebration of sorts to Abbey finally being home, I have a complete family.

Four months go by before anything major happens again. Alex gets put back on active duty and despite her not wanting to leave Abigail she is excited to go back in the field. About a month after she gets put back on the team we get a call from Maria telling us that there is a Hydra base in Sokovia that has Loki's scepter. After making sure that Abigail is settled with Darcy the seven of us load up fly over there. I take a motorcycle one way, Alex, Clint, and Natasha take a jeep another way, and Tony, Thor, and Bruce do their own thing.

"They have a pretty secure defense around the whole building." says Tony.

"I can't disarm it but there is a power station to your left." says Alex.

"Clint's down." says Natasha. "I need an evac."

"How bad?" I ask.

"Hit to the side, can someone take care of that tower?" I hear Hulk in the background. "Thank you." says Natasha.

"Nat evac is on it's way to you, Tony are you in?"

"Yup, looking for the scepter."

"Alex and Thor, where are you?"

"A little busy with some guys, would appreciate some help." says Alex. "Be on the look out for some sort of mutant as well."

"What?" I ask.

"Yup, runs super fast, Now care to give us a hand Cap."

"Coming." I say.

"Forget it, Thor got them." Says Alex.

"Alright, Nat you and Clint good?"

"Yup, waiting on you guys."

"Alex and Thor, head back. Nat I'm going to need you to get Banner, time for a lullaby."

"Got it."

"Tony where are you?"

"On my way back, got the scepter."

"Great job guys." I say making my way back to the quinjet.

I get back to Thor and Alex talking and Clint laying on a gurney. Tony is in the pilots chair.

"You doing okay?" I ask Clint.

"I'll live." He smirks.

"I don't know, looks like you might bleed out." Laughs Alex coming to stand next to me.

"Very funny." He says.

Just then Natasha and Bruce walk on. "We're good to go Tony." I say.

"You got it Cap."

"Bruce you good?" I ask.

"Give me a minute." He says sitting down. He puts headphones on and I know to leave him alone for a minute.

"You seemed to have forgotten someone." Says Alex smirking at me.

"Really, I thought I got everyone." I laugh.

"I'm doing just fine in case you were wondering." She says.

"I see that." I say kissing her.

"Oh you know how to make a girl weak at the knees." She says.

"So sassy today."

"Just for you." She says over her shoulder before going to sit next to Tony.

Once we get back Alex races ahead of me to go find Abbey and Maria stops me to talk about the twins, I don't understand much of their powers but I do know that they could be useful to us. I go up to the lab to check on Clint and Natasha and Alex are up their with Abbey.

"Hi princess." I say taking Abbey from Alex and kissing her head. Her grin is a mile wide.

"We were just explaining to her that Uncle Clint needs to learn to me more careful." laughs Natasha.

"Easy fix with the cradle." Says Bruce walking in.

"I'll be good as new in a little bit." Says Clint.

"What the deal with the scepter?" ask Alex.

"Thor is going to take it back in a few days, Tony wanted to run some test with it."

"The sooner that thing is gone the better." Says Clint.

"Agreed." I say.

What I didn't know, what none of us knew, was what was going to come out of having it in the tower


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Steve's POV

A few days after our mission we are all sitting up in the living room of the community floor after another one of Tony's parties. We were having fun trying to lift Thor's hammer when out of no where comes this robot. Tony and Bruce both look guilty of something and Ultron plays Tony's voice, what the hell did they do. In a flash he sends a few of Tony's robots at us and we are all up. Before I can grab my shield one of them has me. After getting away from him Clint tosses me my shield.

"What they hell Stark?" I hear Alex yell.

"A little busy, I'll explain later." He yells back.

I hear glass shatter along with Rodney landing on the other side of it. Natasha and Bruce are running up the stairs with guns and Clint, Alex, and Thor are working on disarming two.

"Can't Jarvis shut them off?" I ask throwing my shield at one.

"He isn't responding." says Tony.

Finally we shut them all down and Ultron leaves. I do a head count and make sure everyone is okay before speaking.

"Lab, 10 minutes." I say before walking to the elevator followed by Alex.

"I swear to god if anyone so much as laid a hand on Abbey..."

"She is probably fine but what if she had been down there with us." I say pulling Alex over to me. "Stark looks guilty of something and I intend to figure it out. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Rodny looked like he landed on his shoulder other wise I think everyone is fine."

Just then the elevator opens to our floor and Alex practically runs to Abbey's room, I'm close behind. We open the door to her room to see her sitting up in her crib. Alex and I both let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god." Alex whispers picking her up.

"Bring her with us, I don't know if he's coming back."

I wrap my arm around Alex's waist and we walk to the elevator before heading back down to the lab. Everyone else is already there. Rodney is icing his shoulder, Maria is picking glass out of her feet and everyone just seems shocked.

"Oh my god Abbey." Says Tony.

"Someone better start explaining cause if something had happened to her I wouldn't hesitate to take down whoever started this."

Tony and Bruce then proceed to explain Ultron and the idea behind him.

"You didn't think to consult the rest of us?" I ask.

"I didn't think I needed to." Says Tony.

"I wouldn't have been a bad idea..." Says Bruce.

"What you're just going to roll over and show you belly Banner."

"We created a murderbot." Says Bruce.

"Tony you were only supposed to run diagnostics on the scepter not make a world dominating robot." Says Alex.

"I thought I was helping." He says.

"I should have taken it back to Asgard." Says Thor.

"Damn right." Says Clint.

"Watch your language around Steve." Smirks Natasha.

"Glad you two can make jokes." I say. "We need to figure out his next move."

"Our systems are down." Says Maria.

"Alex can you get them up and running?" I ask.

"I can try, but in the mean time everyone else needs to start looking the old fashioned way."

"Where are the files?" Ask Natasha.

"Downstairs." Says Maria.

"What are we looking for?" Ask Clint.

"Any connections to Strucker." I say. "Let's get to work."

Alex stops me. "Can you take her?"

"Yeah." I say grabbing Abbey. "Let me know if you need help." I say kissing her. I walk over to the elevator. "Alright B let's see if we can dig uncle Tony out of a hole." I say kissing her head.

After an hour of searching we figure out Ultrons next move, he is looking for vibranium, the same material used for my shield, the same material that is virtually indestructible. Alex couldn't get Jarvis back online but at least we know where we are going. We leave Abbey with Maria and we load up to go to South Africa. Once we get there we split up. I go with Tony and Thor, Alex splits up with Natasha and Clint, and Bruce stays back, we don't need the Bug Guy yet. Before I split up with Alex I grab her arm.

"Be careful."

"You too soldier." She says kissing me. "I love you." She whispers.

"Love you too."

"Now how help Tony." She smiles before walking away.

I see her go hide behind a wall opposite Natasha and Clint is on the opposite side a story up covering us.

"What do you need the Vibranium for?" Tony ask Ultron. He has the twins with him.

"You see I'm so glad you asked cause I was just about to tell you my evil..." He doesn't finish, he blast Tony backwards.

All hell breaks loose after that. Ultron flies off and on top of handling the twins we have to deal with the people working at the ship yard. Pietro whizzes past me knocking me over and before I can get up I start seeing things. I'm back in the 40's, there are people everywhere dancing and celebrating. I'm in my uniform. All of the sudden I hear a familiar voice behind me, Peggy.

"It's over Steve, we can go home." she smiles at me.

We dance for a moment and then everything is gone, I'm by myself again. It takes me a minute but I come to my senses. I lay there trying to figure out what just happened when I hear Tony's voice.

"Big Guy is ripping through the town, I need a lullaby."

It's Clint who answers. "The whole team is down, you're going to have to handle that. The Maximoff girl got to them."

I get up slowly and make my way over to where I last saw Alex and I see her slumped against the wall. She is shaking and starring in front of her. The last time I saw her like this was after she was captured by the Red Room, whatever she just saw can't be good.

Alex's POV

Black, that's all I see at first and then it all starts to become clearer. I'm in the Red Room, I'm looking at my younger self using a person for target practice. It was programed into my head that it was okay. After I kill him I take a deep breath and turn around to grab another gun when I see Steve.

"Steve..." I whisper.

"You're a monster." He says disgust written all over his face. "How could anyone ever love you." Then he is gone.

The scene changes to me fighting several different men way bigger than I am, I kill them all. All at once different images from the Red Room pop into my head and then I'm brought back to reality.

Steve is crouching down in front of me but this time instead of looking disgusted he looks concerned.

"Let's go." He says helping me up.

I lean on him and let him help me to the quinjet. Tony is sitting at the front and Bruce just looks broken, the whole team does really. Clint and Tony were the only ones who didn't have a mental break down. Thor looks confused by whatever he saw and by the look on Natasha's face I can tell hers must have been similar to mine, I have no idea what Steve's was about. The two of us sit down next to each other and I lay my head on his shoulder, I need to process everything. After two hours of sitting in complete silence a call comes in from Maria. Steve and Tony answer it. After explaining everything that happened Maria takes a second to think about everything.

"It might be best to not return to the tower, maybe lay low somewhere." She says.

"But Abbey..." Says Steve.

"I've got her."

"Are you safe there?" Ask Steve.

"Security is up and running. I'll try to track Ultrons next move but I don't think he'll come here." She says.

"And you are sure you can handle Abbey?"

"She is napping as we speak. She is fine and will be. You guys focus on regrouping."

"Okay..."

"Bye." And the screen goes black.

Steve sighs and leans back in his seat. He pulls me closer to him and kisses my head.

"Do you want to talk about it." He whispers.

"Not yet." I say.

"Okay."

Several hours later we land in the middle of a field. I know where we are but Steve, Tony, Thor, and Bruce all look confused. The property belongs to Clint...and Natasha I guess since they are married but we use it as a safe house. The only people that know about it are Fury and Maria. We all get off and Clint and Natasha lead the way staying close to each other. Whatever Natasha saw really shook her up, it's hard to do that. Clint unlocks the door and Tony speaks up.

"Where are we?"

"This is Natasha and I's house, no one knows about it, we would like to keep it that way."

"Tony, Bruce and Thor there are two bedrooms downstairs and another upstairs. Food is in the kitchen. Alex you know where you are going. Everyone go get cleaned up." Says Natasha.

I don't wait another second before grabbing Steve's hand and pulling him upstairs with me. I take the familiar path to my bedroom and close the door behind him. I turn around and wrap my arms around him burying my head in his chest. He picks me up and sits down on the bed.

"I love you." He whispers.

I'm not sure why the next question comes out of my mouth but it does. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" He ask now looking at me.

"Why do you love me, I'm a terrible person. I've killed more people than I can count and most of them were innocent. How is it that you love me?"

"Because that's not you anymore, that hasn't been you in six years. Now you save people, you put your life on the line for people you don't even know. You are so much more than what they made you to be. You think I would have married you if I thought otherwise. You are one of the most generous people I know and you are an amazing person. If you really want everything we may be sitting here a few hours cause there are so many reasons why I love you." He pauses for a minute. "Does this have to do with what you saw?"

"Yeah...I don't want to go into detail but let's just say it had to do with the Red Room...and you were there for a split second, just wasn't expecting it." I whisper.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up." he says.

"Good idea."

I walk over to the dresser and get some clothes out. "I have clothes for you in the bottom drawer."

"What?"

"I sent some out after the fall of shield, in case we ever had to go into hiding."

"Smart women." He smiles.

"I try." I smile before closing the bathroom door.

I take a long hot shower letting the water run over me for a long time I have a lot of things running through my mind so it's nice to just relax for a few minutes. It relaxes my sore muscles and washes away the stress of the past couple of days. After a good twenty minutes I get out and change into my clothes. I let Steve take the bathroom and I sit on the bed and check my phone. A couple minutes later I get a video from Maria of Abbey, she is babbling and smiling and I can't help myself, I start crying. I miss her and I'm worried about her, mostly worried that I'm abandoning her. Steve comes out and looks at me.

"What happened?" he ask.

I laugh a little "Nothing, Maria sent me a video of Abbey and I just miss her."

"It'll all be over soon." he says sitting down next to me.

"But will we make it?" I whisper.

" I will do everything in my power to make sure of it."

Instead of saying anything else I bury my head in his chest. He wraps his arms tightly around me and I find it harder and harder to keep my eyes open, so I surrender to sleep.

A little while later I wake up from a nightmare but I don't see Steve next to me. I go into the bathroom and clean myself up a little before heading down to the kitchen where Natasha and Clint are working on dinner, I must have slept for a while.

"Have you guys seen Steve?" I ask quietly.

"He went for a run." Says Clint.

It's quiet for a minute. "How's everyone else?"

"Bruce locked himself in his room for the time being, Fury is out in the barn talking to Tony, and Thor left. Not sure where he went." Says Natasha.

"And you guys?" I ask.

"Fine." Says Natasha.

"Tired." Says Clint. "And you?"

"I'm okay." I smile. "Do you guys need any help?"

"No, do you want to try to get Bruce?" Ask Natasha.

"Sure."

"Downstairs bedroom on the left." She says.

I stand up and walk out of the kitchen through the living room to the hallway leading to the bedrooms. I knock on the door of Bruce's room.

"Hey Bruce, dinner's almost ready." I say, I don't get an answer. "Bruce."

The door opens and Bruce looks at me. "Thanks." He says before going to close it again. I stop him. "It's not your fault." I say.

"I destroyed half the city."

"That wasn't you, that was the other guy under mind control, you wouldn't have had control anyway."

He opens the door all the way. "The other guy killed innocent people."

"Do you know how many people I've killed? Too many to count. If you look at my records it just says over 300. That's by myself, that was me in the Red Room. I killed knowing what I was doing, you didn't. You have no control over what the other guy does, the other guy is not you. You are Bruce Banner, you are a brilliant scientist and doctor. You are a great friend and an amazing uncle to my daughter. Don't confuse the two." I say sternly. "The world needs you right now, both of you, not one or the other. The world needs all of us really." I whisper. "So what do you say we forget what happened yesterday for just a little bit and try to act like normal people."

"Normal is never an option." he smirks.

"We can try." I smile.

The two of us walk to the kitchen and Steve, Fury and Tony are all in there as well. I walk over to Steve and kiss him quickly.

"How'd you get him to come out?" he ask.

"Im persuasive, you should know." I smirk. "You okay?" I ask concerned, he looks stressed.

"Just thinking." He says. "I saw Peggy earlier, when Wanda messed with my head, I was back in the forties. Then I had a nightmare about you and Abbey, kinda shook me up a little, I guess I needed to clear my head."

"And did you?"

"A little."

"Good."

That night we have a nice normal dinner and then discuss our game plan for what to do next, it's going to be a long couple of days.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**Steve's POV**

Natasha is gone, Tony created yet another form of intelligent life and Ultron is going to destroy Sokovia tomorrow if we don't stop him. That is what has happened in the last 24 hours, that is normal for my team.

Natasha was captured by Ultron after getting the artificial body onto the quinjet. Alex and Clint couldn't get to her and I was on the ground trying to stop a train with Pietro and Wanda who have switched over to our side. By the time I got back to the tower Bruce, Alex and Tony are arguing over what to do with the body Cho created. One thing lead to another and now I'm sitting in the living room with a new form of intelligent life who sounds like Jarvis and is worthy to lift Thor's hammer. Clint located Natasha, Ultron took her to Sovokia and we know what we have to do, it's just trying to get everything ready. Once everyone settles down and starts to make a game plan I go over to Alex.

"Abbey?"

"Upstairs sleeping, do you want to go see her, not sure I want her down here." she says.

"Yeah." The two of us go to leave and I hear Tony.

"Where are you two going?"

"To see our daughter." I say without turning around.

We get on the elevator and go up to our floor, it feels nice to be home if only for a little while. I dump my shield on the floor and the first thing I do is go to Abbey's room. She is sound asleep in her crib, it's the most peaceful thing Iv'e seen in the past week, it's calming. Alex comes and stands next to me and wraps her arm around me. I pull her closer to me and kiss her head.

" I don't want to leave her." I say.

"Me neither." she says

"Then don't."

"Steve…You know I'm not going to let you go without me."

"She needs one of us in case something happens."

"Don't talk like that."

'I have to, it's the truth. I don't want her growing up without at least one parent."

"Nothings going to happen to us, you heard Vision. If we are going to defeat Ultron we need to do it together. I think about this a lot Steve, you know I do. This is something I need to do. I can't just sit here while my friends, my family, and my husband risk their lives, not when I know I'm just as capable of helping."

"I need to know that you are safe." I say.

"And I need to know that you are. You tend to take more risk Steve, you know that. You're Captain America, you are the nations symbol of freedom but what's the price you pay for that freedom. I know you are the super solider but you are also my husband and the father of an incredibly lucky little girl. I can't dictate what you did before we met but I do have a say now and I need to know that you are safe. You can't always be the hero Steve, it's a fact. Sometimes other people have to have the chance to do it." She says looking incredibly serious. "I need you, I will always need you." she whispers.

"I'll always come back." I say.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, I can't keep that promise."

"Then how about this, I'll always do my very best to come back."

"And you'll let me go to Sokovia, if nothing else then just to get my best friend back."

"Yes, but you promise me something. You'll do your best to stay out of the fight unless we absolutely need you."

"Okay." she whispers.

We stand there a little longer appreciating the quiet until we realize it's almost time to go. The two of quietly walk out of her room for what could be the last time and we head up to the quinjet where everyone else is suited up ready to go. Our plan is to get everyone out of the city and then we need to destroy Ultron, it won't be easy by any means of the imagination but if we don't do it who will?

"Once you get Nat I want you to help get everyone out and then get out okay?" I say to Alex as she is about to leave.

"Okay." she says. "Please be careful." she says.

"You too."

"I love you." she says kissing me.

"I love you too. Go get Nat." I say.

"Keep your com link open."

"Of course."

She runs off with Bruce to go find Natasha, Bruce doesn't want to let the other guy out and I understand that. The rest of us work on getting the civilians out. Fifteen minutes later I hear Alex's voice in the com link.

"We got Natasha out, she is okay."

"Miss me boys." I hear Natasha say from her end.

"You have no idea." says Clint.

"How fast can you guys get back here?" I ask.

"Ten minutes." says Alex.

"That would be helpful." says Thor.

"Noted." Says Natasha. "See you then." and then they go silent.

True to their word they get back ten minutes later. Natasha goes off to help Clint and Alex stays with me. We are doing great when all of the sudden the ground starts to move.

"Shit." says Alex.

"You kiss your husband with that mouth." says Tony

"Not now Stark." I say. "What's going on?"

"The city is floating." Says Tony.

"Repeat that, I'm not sure I heard you right." Says Clint.

"No you did Katniss, is everyone out?"

"No." I say.

"We need a way to stop it." Says Pietro.

"On it, just give me some time." Says Tony.

"Everyone else be on the lookout, Ultron may be looking for a fight. Keep the civilians out of harms way."

"So much for me leaving." Says Alex.

"Stay close." I tell her.

"Not a damsel in distress." she smirks.

"Just so I know where you are plus, I trust you the most to cover me."

"You sure know how to flatter a girl."

"Come on we need to get everyone to safety."

"It's not safe here Steve."

"Then as safe as we can get them."

"Everyone at the church." says Wanda.

"Why?"

"We found Ultron." says Thor.

"On our way." says Alex.

By the time we get there he is about to send his army of robots on us. I loose Alex within seconds but I know she is covered, Hulk even made an appearance. A few minutes in I hear Alex's voice.

"Steve boost me up."

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

I angle my shield for her to jump off of and she runs at it before jumping in the air and clinging on to a robot and sticking a device on it before landing in front of me.

"What…" i don't even get to finish before it explodes above me.

"Keep going babe." she says starting on another one. She never ceases to amaze me.

We finish them all off and then work on getting the civilians to safety. Fury showed up with Hill in a hellicarier to get everyone out. You could say that everything went right from there or that it all went downhill. Either way it didn't end the way I expected it to.

**Alex's POV**

At some point or another I got separated from Steve, I wasn't too worried, I was helping people get out, nothing too dangerous. Clint and I had almost everyone out but some women was looking for her son. Clint spotted him and went to get him but what he didn't see coming was about a thousand bullets, I thought he was gone but at the last second A car flipped in fro t of them and blocked it. That's when I saw it...Pietro had taken the bullets instead. He collapsed in front of Clint and Clint looks shocked. I see Steve go help him but before I can get to them the ship I'm on leaves.

"Steve I'm out, what's the status with everyone else."

"Getting Clint and Pietro out and I'll be heading up. Nat is out and haven't heard from big guy. Tony and Thor status?"

"I can stop it, is everyone out?"

"I've got Wanda." Says Vision."

"Do it Tony." Says Steve.

I see Sokovia crumble below me, to think we almost all made it out. Pietro sacrificed himself for two people he barely knew. I wasn't sure of him at first but now I'm devastated he didn't make it, I can't imagine what Wanda is feeling right now. He was the only family she had left, the two were inseparable. As soon as I get up to the carrier Natasha is waiting for me.

"Where is Banner?" I ask.

"Threw Ultron out of the quinjet and took off with it, I tried to get him to come back but he hung up, it was the other guy."

"Dammit."

"He'll be back, I don't know when but he will. He has his own demons he needs to fight. How is everyone else?"

"Pietro didn't make it." I whisper.

"What happened."

"He saved Clint, took ten bullets at least."

"Oh my gosh." she whispers.

"Clint's okay, I think he is pretty shaken up though."

"Does Wanda know?"

"Pretty sure."

"I thought if anyone was going to make it out…" I see Clint limping over to us and stop her.

"He looks so defeated." I say.

"I'll see you later."

She walks over to him and wraps her arms around him. It's one of the few times I have seen them completely disregard everyone around them and just show their emotions. She pulls away from him and he wraps an arm around her waist and they walk off. I see a shield agent taking Pietro off on a gurney with Wanda not far behind, it rips me apart. I know exactly how it feels to loose a sibling, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Vision is close behind her, concern written all over his face. Thor and Tony walk in through a door and both nod at me before heading off to get cleaned up, that leaves Steve. There are people everywhere but I start to scan the crowd for him. I see him at the other end of the hanger and I make my way over. Once I get close enough I sprint to him ignoring the pain shooting through my ankle. He looks up just in time to catch me. I bury my head in the crook of his neck and I hear him let out a sigh.

"Thank god you're okay." he whispers.

"I always am." I mumble. I let go of him and look at him. "Steve your arm…"

"Your ankle." he says.

"I can wrap that later, you have a bullet wound. Is it still in there?"

"Yeah."

"Come on lets go." I say grabbing his hand.

The two of us walk past the crowds of people and I take him up to one of the many rooms in this place. He takes the top half of his uniform off while I get the medical supplies out and he sits down. I take a towel soaked with water and clean his arm off gently before getting the supplies I need to get the bullet out.

"You ready?" I ask.

"Yup."

As gently as I can I get the bullet out. He winces a few times and I feel bad but his healing abilities are not going to get it out. "I'm going to stitch it up, this may take a little longer to heal."

"Go ahead, do you have stuff to wrap your ankle?"

"I'll do it when I'm done." I smile at him.

I stitch him up quickly and I let him go shower. When he is done I do the same thing and change into clean clothes before wrapping my ankle quickly. I go and sit down next to him on the bed and I run my hand up and down his back and kissing his cheek.

"Pietro didn't need to die." he whispers.

"He saved Clint and that little boy, he died to protect others. Don't beat yourself up over it, Clint is already doing that. You couldn't have done anything about it, you weren't near them. It's okay Steve, everyone else is okay."

"Banner?"

"Took off, he will come back eventually."

"He needs time." says Steve. "It was bound to happen eventually."

"We get to go home." I say smiling at him.

"We need a break." He says smiling at me.

"We can make that happen, we just saved the world I don't think we will need to do that again for a while."

"Unless Tony decided to make another murderbot." he laughs.

"Too soon." I smirk.

"Let's get some sleep, I'm sure everyone needs a break." he says pulling me down next to him.

"I'm all for that."

When we wake up we go up the the main deck where Tony is sitting with Thor, Maria, and Fury.

"How close are we?" ask Steve.

"About another hour, anxious to get home Captain?" ask Fury.

"Just a little." he smiles.

"Phil's got her, she is in good hands." he says referring to Abigail.

"Thank you." I say.

"Where are Clint and Natasha?" ask Maria.

"We may not see them till we get back." I say.

"Ah." she says. "Vision somehow convinced Wanda to go get cleaned up but we may not be seeing her either."

"Poor thing." I say. "None of us were expecting that."

"Do you think we can convince her to stay on?" Ask Fury.

"She has nowhere else to go." Says Tony.

"Give her a few days before asking." I say.

Not much else is said the rest of the way back. As soon as we land the team divides up into two cars and we go back to the tower. Steve and I of course are above everyone else floor wise so we are the last two off the elevator. When the door opens Phil is sitting in the living room with Abbey on the floor. I walk over as fast as I can and pick her up kissing her face, she smiles as soon as she sees us.

"Welcome back." Says Phil.

"Thanks for watching her." says Steve.

"Never a problem, you've got a sweet girl. Are you both okay?"

"A few scratches here and there but nothing to worry about." I say.

"Well then I'll leave you guys to it, We can talk later. Get some rest." He says walking to the elevator.

I hand Abbey to Steve and we sit on the couch. "Never been happier to be home." says Steve pulling me over to him with his other arm.

"I'm not moving the rest of the day." I say.

"Well B here may decide other wise." he laughs.

"That wouldn't be very nice." I smile before kissing her head.

"She is so spoiled." he laughs.

"Rightfully so."

"You should ice your ankle."

"I'll worry about that later." We sit there for a few minutes. "What are we going to do about Bruce?"

"He doesn't want to be found, we'll have to let him come to us."

"Guess he knows where to find us."

The three of us stay on the couch for another hour. Abbey falls asleep on Steve who is also asleep when Natasha comes up.

"Hi Nat." I say tiredly.

"Just letting you know dinner is going to be ready soon."

"Thanks." I smile. "How's Clint?"

"Getting better, you know him, he takes stuff like that hard. I see Abbey missed you guys." She smiles.

"Yeah." I smile.

"She looks just like him." Says Natasha. She is right, Abbey has a little tuft of blond hair and both of our blue eyes but she looks just like Steve.

"She does." I say.

"I'm going to go get Clint but I'll see you guys at dinner." She says getting up.

"Sounds good." Once she leaves I scoot over and kiss Steve's cheek. "Time to get up soldier." I whisper in his ear.

"Why?" He ask slowly opening his eyes.

"Dinner is ready." I say.

"How long was I out?" He ask carefully sitting up as to not wake Abbey up.

"An hour. Should we just let her sleep?"

"We should wake her up, other wise she is going to be up late." He says.

"It's her dinner time anyway. I'll go change her diaper if you'll make a bottle for me." I say taking her as she starts to wake up.

"Sounds good." He says standing up.

After doing all of that the three of us head downstairs. Thor is sitting on the couch, Pepper is cooking, and Tony is sitting at the counter with a glass of scotch talking to Pepper. Clint and Natasha aren't here yet and Darcy is out of town working on a project with Jane. Sam is somewhere in the tower.

"Anyone know where Vision and Wanda are?" I ask sitting next to Tony.

"We may not see them for a while." He says.

"Not surprised." Says Steve.

"How was your trip Pepper?" I ask while trying to get Abbey to take her bottle.

"It was fine, obviously I missed a lot." She says. "How is miss Abbey?" She ask smiling.

"She is good." I say back. Abbey starts trying to get out of my arms and is reaching for Steve so I hand her off. "I guess I'm not the favorite anymore." I laugh. "You know this means you have to finish feeding her."

"Hand it over." He laughs reaching for the bottle.

"Not 24 hours ago you two were saving the world and now your just trying to feed your kid, so weird." Says Tony.

"You want her?" I ask.

"I'll let you two handle that then I'll take her." He smiles.

"Fair enough." Says Steve.

"How you doing big guy?" I ask walking over to Thor.

"Hungry." He grumbles.

"Of course you are." I laugh. The elevator door opens and Clint and Natasha get off. I walk over to them and hug Clint having not seen him in the last 24 hours. "Hey, you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah." He smiles before walking over to Steve and Abbey.

"Getting better." Sighs Natasha.

"Poor guy." I say as the two of us watch them.

"It'll get better, he takes the blame for everything. Just his personality." She slightly smiles as she watches him hold Abbey, Abbey love him.

After we eat everyone is quick to go to bed exhausted from the past couple of days. In the middle of the night I get up to feed Abbey but I have to go down to the common floor to get more formula. I go down there with Abbey to find Tony in the same spot I left him in after dinner.

"Tony what are you still doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." He says as I make Abbeys bottle.

"What's on your mind?" I ask sitting down next to him feeding her.

"Just mulling over the past week."

"You feel guilty."

"Yeah."

"You were just trying to help and I get that. Should you have asked all of us first, yeah, but it's the thought that counts."

"Pietro lost his life because of it, innocent people lost their lives, that was what I was trying to prevent."

"I'm going to tell you what Steve tells me. We can't save everyone but we can try and try we did. We tried pretty damn hard Tony. You can sit here and blame yourself for everything that has happened but at the end of the day you helped to fix it, hell you did all of the heavy lifting back there. If you hadn't been there we would have had no way to stop that city from destroying everything, none of us would be here right now."

"You're just trying to be nice." He mumbles.

'Come on Tony, you know me. I tell it like it is, especially when it's someone I'm close too. I wouldn't have said any of that if I didn't believe it. Now I need to go back upstairs before Steve wakes up and wonders where I am, why don't you try to go get some sleep."

"I was going to go down to the lab with Bruce but..."

"He'll be back Tony."

"I'm not so sure."

"Try to get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning." I say walking to the elevator with a now sleeping Abbey.

Once I get back up to our floor I go put Abbey back in her crib before carefully climbing back into bed as to not wake Steve up. I climb in next to him and he unexpectedly wraps and arm around me and pulls me right next to him.

"Where were you?" he whispers against my neck.

"Had to go downstairs to get more formula for Abbey, Tony was down there, we ended up talking."

"He okay?"

"He will be. Go back to sleep soldier." I smile.

"With pleasure." He says back kissing my neck.

Hard to believe that I could have died 24 hours ago and now I'm back to my normal daily life.


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! so I know this is a shorter chapter and I'm sorry, it's kind of a filler, hopefully you enjoy it though. i am having a bit of writers block though. If you have any ideas for me hit me up!**

Chapter 19

**Steve's POV**

The next morning both Alex and I are awaken by Abbey. Alex sighs and rolls over to face me.

"Back to reality." She says kissing me.  
"I'll get her if you start some coffee."  
"Fair enough." she says getting up.

I get up and walk across the hall to Abbeys room where she is crying. I pick her up and kiss her head.

"I'm right here princess, no need to cry." I smile at her.I change her before walking into the kitchen. Alex hands me a cup of coffee.  
"Hi B." she smiles kissing her nose, she then looks to me. 'Want to see if anyone else is up?"  
"Sure."

We get on the elevator and go down to the common floor where Tony is sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee talking to Clint and Wanda suprisingly is down there talking to Vision at the kitchen counter. Alex walks over to Tony and Clint and I smile at Wanda and Vision.

"Morning." I say.  
"Hi." says Wanda shyly. "And who is this?" she ask referring to Abbey.  
"This is Alex and I's daughter Abigail." I say.  
"She is adorable." says Wanda.  
"I agree." I smile. "Vision how are you?"  
"I am well thank you for asking."  
"Good to hear." I then walk over to Tony, Clint, and Alex. I sit down next to Clint who takes Abbey from me.  
"Morning Abs." he smiles.  
"How'd you sleep?" I ask him.  
"I didn't." he sighs. "Nat really didn't either, mostly cause I didn't."  
"Sorry man." I say.  
"It'll pass." he says.  
"Morning." says Natasha walking towards us.  
"Morning Nat." I say.  
"Did any of you sleep?" ask Alex.  
"Nope." they all three answer.  
"We need a vacation." says Tony.  
"That's an understatement." says Alex.  
"Shouldn't be getting any calls in the near future." I say.  
"Better not." says Clint.  
"Guys who is on breakfast duty." ask Sam walking in.  
"I got it." I say getting up. "Pancakes?" I ask.  
"If you're making them then yes." says Natasha.  
"Pancakes it is."

Once breakfast is over we all split up doing our own things. Tony goes and locks himself in the lab much to Peppers displeasure, she has to go to meetings all day and ask us to check in on him from time to time. Clint and Natasha go to the gym and I figure they may be down there for a while. Wanda goes to her room to read, she may be there all day. Sam is flying out to go see Darcy and will be back in a few days. Thor and Vision are talking on the couch and Alex and I go up to our floor. Alex changes before putting Abbey down for a nap and going into her studio and I go into my art studio to draw. I sit in there for 45 minutes before going to check on Alex. When I look in her studio the music is still going but she is sitting on the ground with the same look on her face she has when she is having a flashback. I quickly open the door and crouch down in front of her to try to get her attention back to me.

"Alex look at me. You're not in the Red Room your in New York, you're okay, you're safe." I say putting a hand on her face trying to bring her attention to me. "Look at me, no one is going to hurt you. I got you." It takes me a few minutes but I finally get her to snap out of it. I pull her into my lap and she wraps her arms around my neck and I pull her as close to me as possible. "I got you." I whisper.  
"I'm sorry." She whispers.  
"Don't apologize." I say. We sit there for a few more minutes before she speaks up again.  
"Can you turn the music off." She ask looking at me.  
"Yeah." I get up and turn it off before going to sit in front of her. "What happened?"  
"I started having flashbacks and I couldn't make them stop." She says looking down at the floor.  
"Was it the same thing you saw when Wanda got in your head?"  
"Similar, you weren't there this time but I kept seeing the faces of everyone that I've killed. I had flashbacks to my training, I thought I was back there instead of here." She says playing with my hand.  
"Has it happened more than once?"  
"Not since Wanda messed with my head, I just had the one nightmare the other day but other wise no. I think because my mind was on other things."  
"I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. You never told me what you saw." She says.  
"I was back in the 40's, I guess the war had ended I wouldn't know I was on ice." I laugh. "I was surrounded by people and I'm not going to lie I was a little confused but then Peggy was there. The two of us were dancing and then everything just vanished, I was by myself. It was pretty confusing. Not nearly as bad as yours just a little confusing and shocking."  
"We're a mess." She smirks.  
"At least we're not alone." I smile.  
"I love you." She whispers.  
"I love you more." I say kissing her head.  
"I'm not starting this." She laughs.  
"Good." I smirk.  
"What were you working on?" She ask me.  
"I was drawing you actually." I say shyly.  
"Cause you don't have enough of me." She smirks.  
"Never."  
"Such a sap." She laughs.  
"Only for you."  
"You must be stopped." She says jokingly.  
"And who is going to do it?"  
"I think I can take the great Captain America."  
"And how would you go about doing it?"  
"I have my methods." She says kissing me.  
"Really?" I ask as she kisses me again.  
"Mhm." She mumbles against my lips.  
"I like it." I smirk against her lips.  
"Shut up Rodgers." She mumbles Just then Abbey wakes up and starts crying. "Damn." She whispers getting up and walking across the hall. She comes back a few minutes later with Abbey. "She isn't going back to sleep." She sighs.  
"Well that puts a damper on things." I smirk getting up.  
"You're telling me." she says. "But that's okay it just means more time with Abbey." she smiles.

The rest of the day the three of us relax not really doing much. Everyone decides to do their own thing for dinner that night so after we feed Abbey I start dinner for the two of us. After we eat Alex goes and lays down on the couch exhausted from earlier and I go grab my sketch book to finish what I had started earlier. I sit down in a chair across the couch and begin working again. After fifteen minutes of working I find myself starring at Alex and how beautiful she is. Her beautiful piercing blue eyes, her gorgeous black hair and even though she hates them every single scar on her body. She doesn't like the reminder of what they did to her in the Red Room but I always tell her it should be a reminder of how strong she is. I keep gazing at her until she opens her eyes and looks at me.

"What are you looking at?" she ask.  
"You."  
"Why?"  
"Cause you're beautiful." I smile.  
"You're too nice."  
"It's true, I don't care what you think, I think you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen and I am completely in love with you."  
"Where is this coming from ?" she smiles.  
"I don't tell you enough."  
"You tell me plenty but I appreciate it." she says walking over to me.  
I pull her down in my lap and kiss her. "I love you." I whisper kissing her again.  
She gets up out of my lap and walks towards our room. "You coming soldier." she turns around smiling mischievously.  
"You're such a tease." I say getting up and following her.

An hour later the two of us our laying in bed my hand tracing patterns on her bare back. Alex is halfway asleep next to me and looks more relaxed than I have seen her in weeks. I lean over and gently place a kiss on her forehead and she smiles before moving closer to me.

"You okay?" I whisper pulling her closer to me.  
"Mhm." she whispers kissing me. "No where else I would rather be." she smiles.  
"I couldn't agree more." I say kissing her forehead.

And that's how we end the night, right next to each other, enjoying the silence and the time we have together.

**Alex's POV**

A few weeks later we get back into everything and just like that we are busy all the time. Of course Tony is still having a hard time forgiving himself for everything and Wanda is still having a hard time handling Pietro being gone. Everyone misses Bruce and it just feels like a part of us is missing without him. We are all trying to look for him but he doesn't want to be found and he knows how to hide.

On top of trying to find him I'm busy with Abbey and trying to get the new shield base started. I come home after a meeting one day to find Darcy watching tv on our couch.

"Where is Steve?" I ask setting my stuff down.

"He and Sam got some new stuff on Bucky and they didn't want to bother you in your meeting but since they had to go I offered to stay with Abbey. She is taking a nap right now."

"Thanks Darcy. You can stay if you want I'm just going to check on her real quick."

I walk into Abbeys room and find her asleep in her crib. I gently run my hand over her head but stop when I notice she feels a little warm. I see she didn't get the ability to not get sick from Steve, great. I walk back out to the living room and grab my phone before plopping down on the couch next to Darcy and calling Steve.

"Hey sorry I'm not home." He says when he picks up.

"It's fine it actually worked out. I'm going to need you to grab some Tylenol for Abbey on your way home, she feels warm to me. I'll take her temperature when she wakes up but just want to be prepared."

"Anything else?"

"I don't think so unless you want to make dinner tonight in which case I'll leave that up to you. Thank you." I say.

"No problem."

"So you got a lead on Bucky?"

"Dead end." He sighs.

"We'll find him." I say. "He just doesn't want to be found right now."

"Sounds a lot like someone else I know." He says.

"Bruce will come back when he is ready. I miss him too."

"I know." He says. "Alright Sam and I are running into the store real quick. I'll be home soon."

"Okay. Love you soldier." I smile.

"Love you too." He says before hanging up.

I toss my phone next to me and sigh. "That didn't sound good." Says Darcy.

"Dead end again." I say.

"Oh."

"He is just busy right now. On top of being the team leader and a dad he is trying to find Bucky, help get the new base up and running, and train the new team. He needs a break but there is no time."

"Don't forget loving husband." She says.

"That too." I laugh. "No work today?"

"Well Tony has buried himself in building a new suit and adding upgrades to the hulk buster and Jane is at a conference speaking, I didn't really want to go, figured my time would be better spent here, obviously not." She laughs.

"What about the other lab?"

"Bruce's stuff is in there, doesn't really feel right going in there." She sighs.

"Oh Bruce." I sigh. "I miss him."

"Me too." She says.

"How are things with Sam?" I ask trying to change the subject.

"Good." She smiles. "Just taking it slow. He is busy right now so it's hard to make time to see each other but we manage."

"On the topic of relationships..." I say. "I think there is something between Wanda and Vision." I smirk.

"You might be right." She laughs.

"I know everyone was a little hesitant at first but I really like Wanda." I say.

"Me too, when she doesn't get all scary and mess with minds."

"Oh stop it." I laugh. Just then the elevator opens and Steve and Sam get off. "What did you speed?" I ask.

"Not important." Says Steve setting a bag down on the counter. Sam comes and sits down on the chair while Steve grabs something from the fridge.

"He's tense." Says Sam sitting down.

I sigh and get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen to find Steve leaning against the counter with his head against the cabinet and his eyes closed. I walk over to him and put my hand on his check and rub it with my thumb.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Just needed a minute." He sighs looking at me.

"You'll find him Steve."

"It's not even that, I just feel overwhelmed right now."

"I know." I say wrapping my arms around him and kissing him. "What can I do to help you?"

"Exactly what you're doing right now." He smiles.

"Glad to help." I say.

Just then we hear Abbey crying. "Two seconds was all I was asking for." Says Steve pulling away from me and walking towards her room. He comes back in a few minutes later with Abbey still crying. "Definitely warm." He sighs handing her too me.

"Can you grab the medicine?"

"Yup."

I take her temperature and its a little over 100. Steve has to practically force the medicine down her throat and by the time that is over she is still crying. Steve takes her from me and walks into the living room and sits next to Sam. I grab a water from the fridge before sitting back down next to Darcy.

We end up eating dinner with everyone that night. After dinner Natasha and I are sitting at the table watching Clint and Steve trying to keep Abbey from crying again. Tony went back down to the lab, Sam and Darcy went back to there floor to watch a movie and Wanda and Vision are outside talking. I look over and see Clint throw Abbey in the air and she laughs at him. This causes Natasha and I to laugh.

"Favorite uncle right there." I laugh. "Don't tell Tony."

"Wouldn't dream of it." She smiles. "She looks like she is feeling a little better."

"We'll see how tomorrow goes." I say. "What did you guys do today?"

"Trained for a little while and then had some meetings." She says.

"Shield meetings?" I ask.

"No... Clint and I are trying to adopt." She says nervously.

The Red Room took away Natasha's ability to have kids and I always thought that was unfair. I still had the possibility but she didn't. I also knew Clint wanted kids so badly but Natasha had been a little resistant because of their line of work.

"Really?" I ask excitedly.

"Yeah." She smiles.

"What changed your mind?"

"Well first of all having Abbey around, it made me realized how much I really wanted a kid and after everything that happened last month I didn't want to wait any longer. We started the process pretty soon after Abbey was born but we got serious with it in the past couple of weeks."

"That makes me so happy Nat."

"We'll see. It could be a while or it could happen pretty fast. Clint's excited."

"I bet." I say. "I really happy for you guys." I say looking at her.

"Thank you сестра." She says.

"Добро пожаловать." I smile.

Later that night after Steve and I get Abbey to bed I'm sitting in bed reading while Steve gets ready for bed. He finishes brushing his teeth and he walks into our room plopping onto the bed right next to me causing the bed to go down a lot.

"Some times I think you forget how strong you are." I laugh.

"You never let me forget." He smirks. "I can't understand what you're reading." He says looking at my book. It's in Russian.

"Maybe that's a good thing." I say.

"Whatever." He says rolling over to lay on his back.

"Did you talk to Clint?" I ask.

"Depends...did you talk to Nat?"

"Yes." I say.

"So are we talking about the same thing right now?"

"I'm assuming so. Does it have to do with another child running around this tower."

"We are indeed talking about the same thing." He laughs. "Clint is so excited."

"So is Natasha. I'm glad they figured it out." I smile at him.

"Me too."

I finish the chapter I'm on and close the book and look at Steve. "Feeling better?" I ask.

"Yeah. Thank you."

"No problem." I say kissing him before turning the lights off and scooting closer to him.

Later that night I wake up from a nightmare about the red room, something that seems to be happening a lot lately. Luckily I don't wake Steve up but when I slip out of his arm to go down to the gym he wakes up.

"Where are you going?" He murmurs.

"I need to go work off some steam. I'll be back." I say kissing his head.

"You okay?"

"Don't worry about it." I say leaving our room.

I check in on Abbey for heading down to the gym. I see the light already on when I walk down there and when I walk in I see Clint beating the shit out of a punching bag.

"How long have you been down here?" I ask him.

"An hour." He says not stopping.

"Nightmare."

"How'd you know." He smirks.

"Same." I say.

He stops and looks at me. "About?"

"Red Room, the usual. You?"

"Loki, the usual."

"Clint..."

"They started coming back after Ultron. Weird that I wouldn't dream about that right." He says before starting up again.

I remember when that happened. Clint wouldn't get too close to any of us, especially Natasha. He was afraid he would hurt us. I know what it felt like to have Wanda in my head for a few minutes, I can't imagine having Loki in your head for a few days.

I can tell when Clint doesn't want to talk, now is one of those times. I walk over to one of the other punching bags and start working off steam. I keep going ignoring the pain in my hands until I stop and see pretty much all of my knuckles bleeding. I sigh and look to Clint before leaving.

"Go to bed soon okay?"

"No promises." he says. I glare at him. "Stop pressuring me and go get cleaned up." he laughs.

"Oh look I got you to laugh." I say before leaving.

I go back upstairs and go into Steve and I's room before going into the bathroom and turning the lights on. I get one of our many first aid kits out from under the sink and begin to rinse my hands off. Just then the bathroom door opens and I see Steve rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What did you do?" eh ask taking both of my hands.

"I didn't wrap them before I starting punching." I say.

"Alex…"

"It's fine." I say as I begin to put bandages on them.

Once I finish the both of us get back in bed and this time instead of dreaming of the Red Room I dream of happy things, it's a much needed dream.


	21. Author Note

Hey guys so I am having major writers block for this story right now but rest assured I almost half way through the next chapter. I wanted to let you guys know that I am going to start another story containing one shots set during this story. I will probably post the first one tonight if not tomorrow but stay tuned for the next chapter. I am really sorry it's not up yet.


	22. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Steve's POV**

Christmas…it's supposed to be a happy time of year, but it doesn't quiet feel the same. Of course we are all happy but we all feel a little empty inside. Bruce is still gone and we are no closer to finding him and it's hard on Wanda because her brother isn't here. I'm torn because it's Abbey's first christmas so of course I want to make it special but it doesn't feel the same. It's a week before christmas when we have Tony's annual party. The good news is Tony is getting better but he is still not back to normal, he covers it up well though. Alex and I finish getting ready before grabbing Abbey. We are taking her down with us and then when it's time for her to go to bed we are going to leave the party. We go down the the lobby and we are met by Tony who grabs Abbey.

"I'll be taking B for a moment. Also try not to steel my thunder this year, you guys are two for two." he says.  
"We will try but I make no promises." laughs Alex.  
"Dance with me?" I whisper in Alex's ear.  
"I thought you'd never ask." she says leading me over to the dance floor. She speaks up after about a minute. "I know you are thinking about Bucky and Bruce but I need you to not feel guilty if only for tonight, I need to see an actual smile on your face." she says concerned.  
"Sorry." I say.  
"Don't apologize I just hate seeing you like this. Think of it this way, it's Abbey's first Christmas next week, lets focus on making that special."  
"Okay." I say kissing her.

The two of us continue dancing for a little bit. At one point I look over to see Fury holding Abbey while talking to Maria and Phil and I can't help but laugh a little. Whether he likes to admit it or not he has a soft spot for her. When we are done dancing we go over to the bar where everyone else is and Alex takes Abbey from Phil.

"Thanks for watching her." she says.  
"Never a problem." He smiles.  
"Where did Clint and Natasha go?" I ask.  
"Someone from the adoption agency called." says Maria.

"I hope it's good news." says Alex.

"Guess we'll find out." says Phil.

I get a beer from the bar and sit in-between Sam and Alex and we talk casually until Clint and Natasha come back over.

"We gotta go." says Natasha.

"Why?" Ask Alex.

"Long story, I'll call when we know everything just be prepared to have another kid here by tomorrow." she says.

"Good luck guys." I say as they walk off.

"Where are they off to?" ask Tony.

"Adoption agency called, we may have another kid here tomorrow." says Darcy.

"Good for them." he says grabbing another drink before heading off to go tackle some more conversations.

About an hour later Abbey starts to fall asleep on my shoulder so we decide to head out as well. The three of us head up to our floor and I go put Abbey in bed while Alex makes some coffee. The two of us change before going to sit in the living room on the couch. It started snowing while we were down at the party and it looks beautiful. Alex comes over to the couch and hands me a cup of coffee before sitting down next to me and curling into my side.

"It's beautiful." she whispers.

"Almost as beautiful as you." I say kissing her head.

"You sure know how to flatter a girl." she smirks.

"I try in the hopes that it will one day be good enough for you."

"You have surpassed good enough for me by a long shot." she says kissing my cheek. "Did Abbey go to sleep okay?"

"Yup."

We sit there for a little bit in silence until Alex speaks up again. "I love you." she whispers.

"I love you too." I say smiling at her.

"There is that wonderful smile I love."

"I know Iv'e been stressed lately and I'm sorry there is just a lot going on and it's hard to juggle it all sometimes."

"Nope, don't apologize. I get it. I know you think you have to stay strong around everyone else because you are the leader but you don't have to, we are all here to talk whenever you need it. We can just tackle it one problem at a time. Maybe you need to let Sam and I focus on Bucky for right now or maybe you need to step down from helping with the new base until it's actually done. It's okay to drop something."

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking for." she says. A few minutes later her phone rings. "It's Natasha." she puts on speaker. "Hey." she says. "What's the news."

"Uh kind of a long story but it's a little boy a few months older than Abigail, only child. His parents were killed in a car crash a few weeks ago. His only living relatives are a set of grandparents but they live in a nursing home. His name is Tyler, he is amazing you guys." she sounds so happy. "Clint's with him right now, he is talking with the social worker but I just wanted to update you guys."

"So is this it?" I ask.

"I think so." she says.

"When can you guys bring him home?" ask Alex.

"I think sometime tomorrow, I don't know yet. Oh I need to go but I'll call back in a little bit."

"Bye Nat." says Alex before hanging up. "I'm really excited for them." she says.

"Me too."

We sit there a little longer before taking our cups to the kitchen and rinsing them out. We then go into our room and crawl into bed. I pull Alex over to me and she lays an arm over me. I kiss her head before drifting off to sleep.

When christmas roles around the next week everyone seems to be in a much better mood. Clint and Natasha did end up bringing Tyler back to the tower, they are working on getting all the paper work processed. Tony went all out on gifts for Abbey and Tyler and seems to be doing much better even with Bruce not here. Even Wanda who has been quiet these past few months was more talkative than ever, we may owe that to Vision but it's nice to finally see her come out of her shell. Christmas is a huge success, Abbey and Tyler were spoiled rotten by everyone but had a lot of fun, it was just a day for us to put everything aside and focus on the good in our life. That night we are down on our floor with Natasha, Clint, and Tyler. Tyler is playing on the floor with Alex and Abbey is asleep on Clint. The four of us are just kind of talking.

"Fury says the new base should be ready by the end of next month." I say.

"I thought we agreed no business talk today." says Alex.

"Yeah but this is exciting." I smirk.

"Time to start training the new recruits." says Natasha.

"My favorite." sighs Clint.

"When is Tyler's adoption official?" ask Alex.

"When the government can get their shit together and process all the paperwork." says Natasha.

"Language." says Clint.

"I'm never living that down." I groan.

"I'm surprised you have never said that to me." laughs Alex. "Im pretty bad."

"Doesn't seem right." I smile.

"You guys got lucky." says Alex. "He is such a sweet kid."

"Absolutely in love with him." says Natasha smiling at him.

Not too long after that Natasha and Clint leave to go put Tyler to bed and we do the same with Abbey. Despite it being a great day I can't help but feel a little emptiness for the people not here, but the love from my family helps make up for it.

**Alex's POV**

It's a few months later when we get a call about a Hydra base that needs to be destroyed, it's the whole team. I leave Abbey with Jane and Pepper before suiting up and meeting everyone else at the jet.

"Abbey okay?" Ask Steve.

"Threw a fit when I handed her to Pepper but should be fine now."

"You ready to go?"

"As always Captain." I smirk as I grab my com link and sit next to Wanda.

Once we get there I go with Tony and Sam. Everything seems to be going well until Tony brings my attention to something.

"This building is going to blow any minute, we need to get out."

"Cap we need to get out." I say.

"You guys go ahead, Ill make sure everyone is out. That's an order don't disobey it." He says directing that comment at me.

"Get out soon." I say before heading for an exit.

When we get out there Clint, Natasha, and Wanda are already out. I look back and the building is getting less and less stable by the second. Debris is falling everywhere and still no sign of Thor, Vision, or Steve.

"You guys need to hurry." I say.

"Almost there." says Steve.

I see Thor and Vision make it out and as I'm searching for Steve the building explodes. I feel like time has stopped and I break out into a run. I'm half way to the building when I feel two arms wrap around me and I know it's Thor.

"Thor you have to let go, I have to get to him." I say frantically.

"You will get just as injured if you go In there. Tony can look for him." He says back.

"I'm looking right now Alex, if anyone can survive this it's him." I hear in the com.

"Thor let go." I say struggling against him. "Please, I have to help him." I say sinking to the ground.

Natasha sits down in front of me. "Look at me, Tony is going to get him out, we are going to get him back, and he is going to recover from this but you can not go in there. You would be putting yourself in danger and Steve wouldn't want that."

"I found him." Says Tony. "Thor I'm going to need some help."

Several minutes later I see Thor and Tony have Steve but with the amount of injuries he has it's a miracle he is still alive.

"We need to get him back." Says Sam.

"Everyone on the jet now." I hear Clint say.

"Let's go Alex." Says Sam helping me up.

I follow close behind Thor who has Steve and as soon as he sets him down Nat, Sam, and I get to work.

"We need to clean his burns before he starts to heal. Alex clean and stitch his head, Sam help me clean the burns, everything else is going to have to wait till we get back." Says Natasha taking charge.

I start on his head and clean it off and stitch it quickly before helping Sam and Natasha. Half of Steve's body is covered in burns. We are almost back to the tower when Steve starts to wake up. His fast twist in pain and my stomach drops seeing him in this much pain. I place a hand on his cheek and rub it.

"Steve baby I know it hurts but we are almost back and we are going to get you help." I say. "Nat is there something we can give him?"

"He is going to burn through it, I don't know if we have enough to keep him out till we get back, we can try it though."

"Anything to make him hurt less."

I see tears starting to come from his eyes and he is gritting his teeth, I can't stand seeing him like this. Natasha starts an IV with the medicine and he falls unconscious again. I stand right next to him and run my fingers through his hair and pray for Clint to fly faster. As soon as we get back there are doctors waiting for us and they quickly take Steve. Im conflicted on where to go though. On one hand I want to be with Steve but on the other hand Abbey is upstairs, she still needs her parents. Just they Natasha pulls me from my thoughts.

"Go with him, we can take care of Abbey, one of us will be down soon."

"Thank you." I say quickly before sprinting towards the elevator and begging the elevator to go faster. When I get down there a nurse stops me.

"Steve Rodgers wife right?"

"Yes." I say frantically.

"They just took him back for surgery. Several of his bones were broken and needed to be reset before he started healing. His burns are very bad but will heal faster than normal burn victims. I don't know anything else but I can update you when I know more."

"Thanks." I say quietly before sitting down. I sit by myself for a little while until I hear the elevator door open and Natasha gets off.

"Clint's getting the kids ready for bed, I thought you might want some company. Any news?"

"Several broken bones and the obvious burns. I don't know anything else." I say. We are quiet for a minute before I speak up again. "I can't loose him Tash, I can't, I need him." I say quietly before leaning my head on her shoulder.

"He's going to be ok, he can pull through." she says taking my hand. I close my eyes and then I'm out.

I wake up to Natasha nudging me. I open my eyes to see her and Clint. I sit up and stretch before rubbing my eyes and looking at them.

"Is he out of surgery?" I ask.

"Yeah." says Natasha.

"But…?"

"They want to keep in under until his burns heal a little more, other wise he would be in too much pain." says Clint.

"oh…" I say quietly.

"You can go sit with him though." says Natasha.

"Let us know if you need anything, we can handle Abbey, don't worry about her. You focus on taking care of him." says Clint.

"Thank you guys." I say before getting up and walking into his room

I'm not used to seeing him like this, sitting in a hospital bed, broken. It's usually me. Now I know how Steve feels when I get injured like this. Half of his body is covered in bandages from the burns and his right leg and left arm are in a cast. I see bruises on his body and he looks weak. I pull a chair up next to him and grab his hand and I finally allow myself to cry. I don't go back to sleep but instead I just watch him. I sit there for hours just watching him, making sure he is still breathing, making sure he is okay. At some point I find myself drifting off to sleep when all the sudden his heart rate monitor starts to speed up a little. I look up to see him moving a little, he burned through the medicine quicker than they thought he would and now he is waking up too soon. I press the call button and try to calm him down while I wait for a doctor to come give him more meds.

"Steve just breath okay, I'm going to get you help but you need to breath. I know it hurts baby." I say into his ear.

Just then the door open and a doctor walk in. "What happened?"

"The dosage of meds wasn't enough and he is waking up now." I say panicked. "Don't just stand there, he is in a lot of pain, he needs help."

Just then Steve tries to move but let's out an agonizing scream from the tenderness of his burns, he also pulls his I.V.'s out in the process.

"Mrs. Rodgers, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave until we can get him settled again."

At first I don't want to leave him but I know that in order for them to help him they are going to need the room so I go and sit in the hallway. I slide down the wall onto the floor and put my head in my hands. Why did it have to be Steve, why couldn't the whole team have made it out unharmed.


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**Alex's POV**

It takes them a little bit to get him under control and sedated again but once they do I go back in his room and resume my place next to him. A few hours later Tony comes down to my surprise and sits on the other side of Steve.

"How's he doing?"

"Okay I guess, he woke up a few hours ago, they didn't give him enough medication. He ripped out his IV when he tried to move so it took them a while to get him him medicated again." I say not taking my eyes off Steve.

"Do you need anything?" he ask. "Clint just finished making breakfast for everyone. I'd be more than happy to stay here while you go eat. Maybe go shower and put on something other than your uniform, go see Abbey, or even just take a walk."

I look up at him and give him my best attempt at a smile. "I probably should go change and see Abbey. I'll only be gone thirty minutes, let me know if anything changes." I say slowly standing up.

"Have you slept?"

"I'm fine, thank you Tony."

"Any time Al." He smiles.

I leave Tony in there with Steve and go up to Steve and I's floor to shower before changing into jeans and an old t-shirt and one of Steve's sweatshirts, it smells like him. I then brace myself to go down to the kitchen and get on the elevator. Luckily when I get down their it's only Sam, Clint, and Natasha with the kids. Abbey starts to try to get away from Sam when she see's me so I quickly walk over to him and grab her before kissing her head.

"Hi sweet girl." I whisper. She wraps her arms around my neck and doesn't let go. I smile at her and kiss her head again before looking to Natasha. "Tony said there was food up here."

"I got you covered." says Clint setting a plate down on the table.

"Thank you." I say sitting down. I put Abbey in my lap before starting to eat. Clint, Sam, and Natasha sit down with me and Nat has Tyler in her lap.

"How's he doing?" ask Sam.

"He is doing okay. The doctors didn't give him enough medication and he woke up and ripped out his IV when he tried to move. It took them almost an hour to get him sedated again. Other than that he is just slowly healing. I think his healing factor is a little shot right now."

"Medical is filled with a shit load of morons." says Natasha.

"You know I would hate for Tyler or Abbeys first word to be a curse word." Laughs Clint.

"Whatever." she smirks. "So you left Tony down their with him?"

"Yeah, I'm about to head back though. Are you sure you want her the rest of the day, I can take her."

"It's fine don't worry about it, she keeps Tyler busy and not walking so we appreciate it." says Clint.

"Thank you guys." I say finishing off the rest of my food.

I lift Abbey up and take my plate to the sink. I then go and set Abbey down on the floor with some toys to distract her before leaving. She is going through a stage where she hates when Steve and I leave which I understand and fee terrible about it but after thinking about it I'm not going to let Abbey see Steve like that. As soon as the elevator opens I quickly walk to Steve's room where Tony is still sitting.

"Thank you Tony." I say sitting down.

"No problem, you look better, try and get some sleep though. You need to take care of yourself too."

"I'll try." I smile.

"I'll see you later." He says getting up.

Wanda comes down at some point to check up on me. She and I have gotten pretty close in the past couple of months. She comes and talks when she is missing Pietro and she loves Abbey.

"How are you doing." she ask.

"I'm okay." I sigh. "I just want to know he is okay, but he can't actually speak to me right now." I laugh. "He always has to be the hero." I frown.

"He is the leader, he feels that responsibility."

"I know it's selfish of me to say but I wish he wasn't."

"It's not, he is your husband, you love each other and it's hard for you guys to see each other like this."

"How's Abbey doing?" I ask.

"She misses you but we've got her."

"I want to be with her but I ask want to be with him and I'm not bringing her down here. I know she probably will never remember it but it just feels wrong."

"You're doing everything right. Why don't you come up for dinner later and spend some time with her. That way you can put her to bed and stuff and then you can come back down here."

"I don't want to leave him alone."

"We can figure that out, don't worry about it."

"Thank you." I smile.

"No problem, I'm going to go back upstairs. I will see you later."

"Bye Wanda." I say as she leaves.

A few hours later I get up to grab a drink for the vending machine. Yes Tony stark keeps a vending machine in the tower. As a grab my drink I hear the elevator door open and I have to do a double take, it's Bruce. I set my drink down and throw my arms around his neck.

"You came back." I whisper.

"Nick got in contact with me, I figured you might want a doctor you were familiar with." He says as we separate.

"Thank you."

"You want me to check him out?"

"Yeah, follow me."

I grab my drink and then take Bruce to Steve's room. Bruce then picks up his chart and begins to look over it.

"Any other person would have been dead." He says scanning it.

"I know."

"Do you know how much medication they have been giving him?"

"A lot is all I know. He is burning through it but they don't want him up yet."

"When is the last time a doctor was in here to check his burns?"

"I don't even know, I think I'm scaring them away." I smirk.

"You would." He smiles. "I know his healing factor was a little shot but it may be that we could wake him up in the morning."

"I'm glad you're here." I say as he sits down next to me. "Are you going to stay?"

"Yeah, I needed some space but Iv'e been gone long enough."

"Does everyone else know you are here?"

"Yeah, Abbey has gotten so big and it's unbelievable to me that Natasha and Clint have a kid."

"He is a sweet kid." I smile. "Where were you?"

"I was on a pretty small island for a while and then I was actually up in Canada as of a few weeks ago. Fury has been keeping tabs on me. When he called and told me what happened to Steve I knew it was time to come back."

"I'm glad your back I smile."

Bruce and I go back up for dinner a few hours later. It's nice having Bruce back, now if we could just have everyone actually together. After dinner I say goodnight to everyone before taking Abbey upstairs and giving her a bath. I put her in her pajamas and then I hold her until she falls asleep. I set her down in her crib before running downstairs to check on Steve one last time before going to bed. They convinced me to actually sleep tonight. When I get in his room Bruce is rewrapping all of his burns.

"You sure you don't want me to stay down here?"

"You need sleep Alex, it's fine."

"How are the burns looking?"

"Not as bad as I thought they would, we can wake him up tomorrow and see how he feels."

"Thank you."

I kiss Steve's head before going back upstairs and climbing in our bed. It feels empty without him here but knowing that we get to wake him up tomorrow makes me so happy.

In the morning I rush down to medical after leaving Abbey with everyone else and I run to Steve's room. Bruce smiles at me.

"You ready?"

"More than ready." I smile. "If he is in too much pain I want to put him back under though."

"That's fine. It may take him a few minutes to start waking up or it could take him no time at all, we will see."

Bruce stops the medication from entering his system and within two minutes Steve is waking up. I grab his uninjured hand and rub it with my thumb. He takes in a deep breath and then opens his eyes.

"You're wearing my sweatshirt." he says hoarsely giving me a weak smile.

"That's the first thing you are going to say to me after you almost died." I laugh.

"Does an I'm sorry suffice?"

"We'll talk later. " I smile.

" Last time I was awake I don't remember Bruce being here." He says looking to Bruce.

"Yeah well you had to go and scare everyone so I thought I'd come back. It was getting a little too boring being by myself." smiles Bruce. "Hows the pain?"

"Now that the meds are starting to wear off…It hurts but I can deal with it."

"You sure?" I ask.

"Positive." he says squeezing my hand.

"That's good to hear. I'm going to go update everyone else. Try not to move too much." says Bruce before leaving the room.

"You really know how to scare me." I say.

"I'm so sorry, I thought we had more time. Is everyone else okay?"

"Not a scratch…Abbey misses you."

"Where is she?"

"With everyone else." we are quiet for a minute. "I missed you." I whisper.

"I'm here now." he says smiling sadly. He closes his eyes and grimaces.

"Steve…"

"It's okay." he whispers.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." He says his eyes still closed. "Come sit with me." he says slowly opening his eyes.

"I don't want to hurt you." I say.

"I would rather be in pain than not holding you." he smiles weakly. I can tell the medicine is completely out of his system now.

"Okay." I slowly sit down next to him and he carefully pulls me so that I'm nestled into his side. I grab his good hand and lay my head on his shoulder. He winces and I sit up again. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you can lay back again." I do and he closes his eyes. I look at him in so much pain and it makes me hurt inside. I have tears coming down my face, I hate seeing him like this.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper kissing his cheek.

A little while later Wanda brings Abbey down and I set her down where I was laying earlier. Steve gently picks her up and she does the same thing she did to me yesterday. She wraps her small arms around him and doesn't let go. He kisses her head and holds her with his good arm. The sight makes me happy but it also makes me realize that Abbey could have lost her dad. I know our jobs are dangerous but this made me realize just how much I put on the line.

**Steve's POV**

A few days later I'm healed enough to be released from medical. They took the cast off my leg and put me in a boot but my arm was so bad that I have to keep the cast on it. My burns are still a little red and hurt but it's manageable. The last few days have been stressful for Alex, I can tell. When she is around me she seems fine but Sam told me she has been worried. Once I can finally leave I can tell that she feels better. I'm sitting on the couch icing my leg when Alex comes over.

"I'm about to start lunch, Abbey just went down for her nap. Do you need anything. More ice, more medicine?"

I grab her hand and pull her closer to the couch. "Alex breath." I say pulling her down on the couch. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Look at me, I am perfectly fine. Just take a break ok. Abbey is taking a nap which means you have a few hours to just relax."

"But…"

"No buts, sit here with me and relax."

She sits down next to me and I pull her over to me. "Don't over do it."

"Stop worrying." I say kissing her head.

Clint and Natasha come up for dinner. I watch Tyler and Abbey playing on the floor while the other three make dinner. Once we all have food the three of us start talking.

"We are heading out to the farm next week if you guys want to come." says Clint.

"How long?" ask Alex.

"I don't know a week maybe." says Natasha.

"Sounds good to me." I say.

"We needed a break and from the looks of it so do you guys." says Clint.

"Sounds good." Says Alex.

A week later we steal a jet and fly out to Clint and Natasha's ranch for a much needed vacation. I am fully healed at this point thankfully and I'm looking forward to a week of no missions. The first couple of days are really relaxing but halfway through the trip Alex gets a call I was not expecting.

The two of us had just put Abbey down for a nap when Alex's phone rings. We were standing in the hallway and she pulls it out.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"Fury." she says picking it up. "Hello?"

Within a minute of being on the phone her face falls and she sinks down to the floor with tears coming down her face. She hands me the phone before curling into herself.

"Nick?" I ask.

"Her brother was found dead this morning in his apartment."

"But…"

"We had been keeping an eye on him but the Red Room is sneaky as you know, they caught us off guard."

"I need to go." I say looking to my now sobbing wife. "I'll call you later."

"Rodgers, I'm sorry, I wish there is more I could have done."

"It's not your fault Nick. But really I need to go. we will talk later." I say before hanging up.

I toss her phone aside before picking her up and setting her down in my lap. I wrap my arms protectively around her and try as best I can to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart, I'm so so sorry." I whisper before kissing her head.

"They are all gone." she sobs.

"I know I'm so sorry."

Just then Clint and Natasha walk upstairs and I look at them, both look concerned. I mouth to them that we will talk later and they walk away. I knew that after Alex had found her brother a few years ago she had asked Nick to keep an eye on him but that's all I knew. She never wanted to be updated unless it pertained to his well being so I never asked. We sit there for another hour before she looks at me.

"I need a minute." she says quietly.

"Go ahead." I say kissing her head before she gets up and walks downstairs. I follow not too far behind and I see her walk right past Clint and Natasha before closing the front door and sitting on the swing on the front porch.

"What happened?" ask Natasha.

"Her brother was found dead in his apartment this morning, Nick called right before you guys came up." I sigh sitting down next to them.

"Do they know who did it?" ask Clint.

"Red Room." I say.

Natasha lets out a string of Russian curses and looks angrier than I have ever seen her. "You done?" ask Clint.

"I'm going to kill every single one of those assholes slowly and painfully. They at least took my family out at one time but to draw it out this long, to give her hope that they were done with her, that's just cruel."

"I'm not entirely sure how to handle this." I admit. "I know she is sad and I know she is angry but I don't know what she is going to do."

"We are going to have to wait and see." says Clint glancing out the window at her.

"Why is everything that could possibly go wrong happening to her right now?" I ask.

"Just our luck." says Natasha.

Abbey wakes up about an hour later and Alex is still sitting on the porch so I go and grab her and walk outside. Alex is sitting on the porch swing with her eyes closed. She takes a deep breath before opening her eyes and looking over. She gives me a weak smile and I go and sit next to her. She takes Abbey from me and then leans her head on my shoulder.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I whisper.

"I want them destroyed." she says. "They took my family away from me and I want them gone." she says before going quiet again. "I thought he was safe and then he went and made the same mistake my dad made."

"I'll do whatever you need me to." I say. "Just tell me what you need."

"Just this right now." she says. "I can't go back for the funeral either, they'll find me before I can even say goodbye." We sit there for a little longer before she lifts her head up and looks at me. "Lets take the dirt bikes out, I need to go do something."

"Lets take Abbey inside first." I smile at her.

We walk inside and Natasha is playing with Tyler while Clint starts dinner.

"Can we leave Abbey with you guys for a little bit, no more than an hour?" I ask.

"Go ahead." smiles Natasha.

"We are taking the bikes out." says Alex.

"Enjoy." says Clint from the kitchen.

Alex sets Abbey down next to Tyler and the two quickly start playing together, they are already best friends. I grab Alex's hand and we walk to the barn before pulling the covers off of the dirt bikes and grabbing helmets. We ride through the forest into another field and then sneak onto someone else's property before heading back. The whole ride takes is almost an hour and by the time we get back dinner is ready.

Alex is quiet the rest of the night, she doesn't want to talk about it but I can tell there is something more about it that is bothering her. I wake up in the middle of the night and she isn't in bed. My first guess is that she is in the gym in the basement, I was correct. She is going at it with a punching bag. Her knuckles are bleeding and she has tears running down her face. I sigh and walk over to her.

"Alex." She turns around and throws a punch at me but I grab her hand. "Alex you gotta stop, you're hurting yourself."

She looks up at me with sad eyes and then leans into my chest. "I should have reached out to him. I should have protected him."

"Don't do this to yourself, by not reaching out to him you were taking care of him. He is the one that got mixed up in the wrong things, that is not your fault." She pulls back and looks at me. I place a hand on her cheek. "I know you are hurting but you can't do this to yourself. Lets go get you cleaned up." I say grabbing her hand.

I lead her upstairs to the kitchen and she sits down on the counter while I clean her knuckles and then bandage them. As soon as I'm done I pick her up and carry her up to our room. I set her down and then get in on the other side and pull her over to me before kissing her head lightly.

"We're going to fix this." I say before falling back asleep


	24. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**Steve's POV**

We leave the next day, Fury wanted to meet with the team as soon as possible so we didn't really have any other choice. We meet at the new facility and the four of us go to the conference room with a sleeping Abbey and Tyler. Tony, Bruce, Wanda, Vision, Sam, and Thor are already there. Alex and I sit on the other side of Wanda and Clint and Natasha sit across from us. Phil comes in and sits next to Alex and Maria stands in the back of the room. Fury walks in and takes a deep breath before looking at Alex.

"Do you want to tell them or do you want me to?"

"Go for it." she whispers before grabbing my hand under the table. I give it a reassuring squeeze before Fury starts talking again.

"As many of you know when Alex was taken by the Red Room when she was younger she had an older brother that they left alone. When Alex started working for us she requested that we keep an eye on him but never make contact. Well Dimitri Sharapov was found dead in his apartment yesterday morning. He got involved with the wrong people much like his parents and the Red Room killed him. You also know that a main priority for Shield is to take them down. I had been planning this for a while now but after this happened I knew that many of you would want to carry it out as soon as possible, that it why we are meeting, I have a plan to take them out. Along with Phil's team we are going to get in and take them out, they have caused enough problems to last a lifetime, I want them gone."

"And how are we going to go about doing this?" ask Tony. "We have gotten into that facility once but that was a challenge within itself."

"I have had surveillance teams over there for a few week, let me worry about that. In the mean time I want you guys training for this. Alex and Natasha I'm putting you guys in charge of training everyone. Any other questions?"

"When are we doing this?" Ask Clint.

"Two weeks."

"We are taking everyone out?" Ask Sam.

"Everyone. When you guys went on that rescue mission to get Steve and Alex I know you though you killed Ivan but he is still running the show."

"Сукин сын." Mutters Natasha.

"How dangerous is he?" Ask Wanda.

"He comes across as a very dangerous man but he is a coward." Says Alex who surprises everyone by speaking. "They all are really. Train us to have no fear so that we can protect them."

"Phil have your team report for training in the morning." I say.

"I was already planning on it, anything you need them to do they are there to do it."

"Thank you." I say before looking at everyone else. "We can figure out a strategy as we get closer but Natasha and Alex I want you two taking the lead in this, we do whatever you tell us to."

"We start training tomorrow at 6, unless anyone has any other questions I think we can go." Says Natasha.

No says anything else. "Everyone dismissed." Says Fury.

Alex walks out of the room without saying anything and I get up slowly trying to not wake Abbey up. I turn around and tell everyone we will see them for dinner before heading to our room at the new facility. We have only stayed once before but it's pretty nice. The Avengers have their own wing. In the middle we have a common room and then our rooms branch off of there. I put Abbey down in her crib before walking into our room to find Alex unpacking.

"I'm sorry I just am not in the mood for the I'm sorry's I was about to get." She says still working.

"I get it." I say lifting my bag onto the bed. "I told them we would be at dinner."

"I can do that." She says.

"How are the knuckles?"

"Fine." She says.

"Are you okay?"

"No but I will be." She says stopping to look at me.

I kiss her forehead and slide my hands down her arms. "Thank you for being honest."

"I can't lie to you anymore." She smirks. "You know when I'm lying anyway."

"This is true." I smile. "You know our anniversary is coming up pretty soon."

"And Abbey's Birthday."

"I guess that is the day after our anniversary, wow."

"We have really good timing on everything." she laughs.

"That we do…It's good to see you laugh."

"I'm sorry about last night I…"

"Don't apologize, I know you're hurting right now, you are aloud to do that. I get you wanting to seem like you are fine in front of everyone else but don't hide it from me, I'm here to help."

"Thank you." she whispers as she wraps her arms around me. "I love you."

"I love you too, now why don't we get cleaned up before dinner."

"Mind if I go first, Abbey is going to wake up soon."

"Go ahead, I still need to finish unpacking." I say kissing her head.

I finish unpacking and just as I finish Abbey wakes up so I go across the hall and grab her. Tony walks out of his room and smiles at me.

"Hi Abs." he says walking over to us.

"Take no offenses to her cranky mood she just woke up."

"Figured. I thought I would let you know that Pepper is on her way. She offered to watch the kids while we train."

"She didn't need to do that." I say.

"She wanted to, trust me I told her. She wanted to check up on Alex too, is she okay?"

"She will be." I sigh.

Just then Alex walks out and smiles at us. "Hey Tony." she says giving him a hug.

"Hey." He smiles. "Listen I know you probably don't want to talk about it but I'm sorry about your brother and I'm sorry that you have to deal with all this crap."

"Thanks Tony." she says quietly before turning to me and grabbing Abbey. "I got her, you go ahead." she says before heading back into Abbey's room to change her. "I'll see you in a little bit Tony." I say walking into our room.

When I'm done showering I head out to the common room to see Alex talking with Natasha and Wanda. Tyler and Abbey are playing near Sam and Clint and Bruce is talking to Tony about something. Vision walks out of the kitchen and hands a drink to Wanda before going to sit with Thor. I laugh as Abbey lets go of the table she is using to stand up and falls with a huge smile on her face. She then stands up again and then gets angry with Tyler as he walks away from her.

"Gotta keep up B." I say to her and I give her my hands to help her walk. She hasn't tried walking by herself yet but I know she will soon.

"Steve see what happens if you let go." Alex says to me.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Just keep walking with her and slowly let go. I want to see if she does it. Clint get Tyler to walk over to you."

"I can try." He say sitting up a bit. "Alright Ty come here."

Tyler starts to walk over to Clint across the room and therefor Abbey follows. As she gains more momentum I let go and sure enough she follows Tyler all the way over to Clint.

"Told you it would work." says Alex smiling.

"Did she seriously go that far her first time?" ask Bruce who is now standing behind the couch with Tony.

"Yup." I smile. "That's my girl."

Just then Pepper walks in and looks at all of us. "Did I miss something?"

"Only Abbey's first steps by herself." Says Tony.

"And no one videoed it?"

"I got it." says Sam.

"Me too." says Natasha.

"I need to see it." she says.

"Pepper just see if she walks over to you." says Alex from the couch.

"Abs go see Aunt Pepper." I say.

She smiles at me before walking over to Pepper who picks her up and kisses her cheek. "Would you look at that." she smiles.

"I didn't think she could get cuter." says Wanda.

"Well now that they both know how to walk we are in trouble." says Clint.

"We can handle it.' I say.

"Send that to Jane and Darcy." Alex tells Sam. "They'll want to see it."

"When do they get back?' Ask Natasha.

"In a few days, I told them to come here when they get back." says Sam.

"Good Idea." booms Thor.

"Guys who is on dinner?" I ask. No one speaks. "I'll take it I just need some help."

"I got you Cap." says Clint standing up.

Clint and I quickly make dinner for everyone and thankfully no one says too much about Alex's brother over dinner. The next day as they promised we start training. Natasha and Alex don't go easy on us rightfully so but at least we will be prepared. After the end of the two weeks We are more than prepared. We leave in the afternoon after leaving Tyler and Abbey with Pepper as per usual. Once we get on the jet I start giving orders.

"Falcon, Iron Man, and Vision I want you guys to be our eyes in the sky. Maria will have your back from the jet but when you see anyone having trouble help them out. Alex I want you to take Sky, May and Thor, I'll meet up with you. Natasha take Wanda, Clint, Bobbi, and Hunter. Bruce I want you to knock out any towers you see but stay away from the main building. Once you get back to yourself you can join us…unless you think the big guy has control then I trust you. Everyone watch for Hulk and be on your toes." Everyone nods and puts their com links in. I walk over and sit next to Alex. "You do what you need to, I trust your judgment."

"Thank you." she says kissing my cheek. "And Ivan?"

"All yours." Says Natasha from behind us. "I got him last time, it's your turn."

"Alright guys time to go." Says Maria as she lands the jet.

Everything goes according to plan and as soon as we get into the facility we are taking out people left and right. I join up with Alex and the way she is fighting is more intense than I have ever seen her before. She is taking everyone out with ease. I follow her into the main lab and once she sets eyes on Ivan she blocks everything else out. He doesn't even see her coming and before he can react she snaps his neck. Everything else is easy from there. Once we finish up we load up on the jet and Fury sends in a team to take care of the building.

"Maria I have a favor to ask you." says Alex as we get on.

"Go ahead."

"Would you mind stopping somewhere for me?"

"Sure just give me the coordinates."

She sits down next to me. "Where are we going.'

"I want to say bye to him." She says. I don't say anything else I understand what she means.

A few minutes later we land at a cemetery and Alex gets off and drags me with her. She walks over to her brothers grave and sits on the ground. I sit down next to her and she grabs my hand.

"So I just wanted to say goodbye." she says after a minute. "I always hoped you would end off better than the rest of us, I guess not but I still love you just the same. I'm sorry I never reached out, I probably could have protected you…I love you Dimitri, that will never change. I wish you could have met Steve, he is amazing you would love him, he takes care of me and loves me. You know I never got to tell you but you're an uncle, our daughters name is Abbey. She is so sweet, she just started walking the day after you died…Anyway I should probably go, I love you Dimitri." She then stands up and wipes the tears from her face and I wrap an arm around her waist."Thank you for letting me do that." she whispers.

"You needed to do it.' I say kissing her head.

We quietly get back on the jet and fly back to base where finally Alex gets a full night of sleep.

**Alex's POV**

It's been three months since we took down the Red Room and life has been great since then. Abbey had her first birthday and the day before she said her first word, it was dada, Steve was ecstatic. Now she says mama and dada and no matter how much everyone else tries she won't say anything else. Steve and I had our two year wedding anniversary and it was way better than last year. I didn't spend almost the whole day laying in a hospital bed. Tony and Pepper took Abbey for the night and Steve and I went out to a nice dinner and had some fun. That was two weeks after we took them down, now we are just busy training.

On one of our mornings off Steve is in the kitchen making breakfast and I'm trying to get Abbey to eat her pancake when I get really nauseous. I run to our bathroom and end up throwing up. I feel Steve grab my hair and hold it back for me. When i'm done I lean against the wall and Steve hands me a glass of water.

"Alex that's the third time this week."

"I know." I sigh.

"And you don't have a fever so your not sick."

"I think it's time to go see Bruce." I say after a minute. "But no one else can know about it."

"Why?"

"I think I might be pregnant." I say.

"OK…" he says. "We should probably go see Bruce…like now."

Neither one of us moves. "Holy crap." I say.

"Yeah…" he says.

I stand up and grab his hand. "Lets go." I say.

He grabs Abbey and we head down to medical where we told Bruce to meet us. He looks really confused until we explain everything to him.

"Yeah sounds like I should run some test." he says getting all the supplies out. He quickly draws blood and when he comes back ten minutes later he is smiling. "Well congratulations guys. Alex you are indeed pregnant."

"Wow." I whisper. "How far along?"

"Almost two months. Same rules apply as last time. No more training and I want you to take it easy."

"And everything looks okay?" Ask Steve, always the worrier.

"Everything looks fine." says Bruce. "You guys are free to go."

"If Tony ask where you went…"

"Already got that figured out." he laughs. "I'll see you guys later." he says walking out.

The two of us quietly go up to our floor and set Abbey down on the floor with toys before sitting on the couch.

"Well…" I say.

"I'm not going to lie I'm really surprised, extremely happy but surprised." he says.

"Me too….We are having another baby." I laugh before looking at him.

"I love you." He says kissing me.

"I love you too." I smile.

Abbey stands up and walks over to us and Steve pulls her up on the couch. "Your going to be a big sister." He says kissing her head.

"I want to wait to tell everyone." I say. "Just until we are sure..."

"It's okay." He finishes for me."I agree."

The rest of the day we just relax and that night we watch Tyler for Natasha and Clint so that they can go out to dinner. We put a movie on for Abbey and Tyler while Steve and I make dinner. Once we get them fed and Steve wears them out we put Abbey to bed in her room and we let Tyler continue to sleep on the couch while the two of us watch a movie. Natasha and Clint come up about an hour into our movie.

"Hey thank you guys." says Natasha as she picks him up.

"Never a problem, he was great." says Steve.

"Alright well we should probably get him to bed, thanks again, we'll see you in the morning." says Clint as they walk to the elevator.

Once they leave I curl into Steve as we continue our movie. "At least we know we can handle two." I laugh.

"True." he says kissing my head. A few minute later I start to fall asleep. "Alright lets get you in bed." He says picking me up."

"You're the best." I whisper.

The next morning at breakfast we eat with everyone. Tony is in a really good mood which means he has what he believes is a good idea.

"Alright Tony spill." I say as he sits down.

"We're going out of town, all of us."

"Why?" ask Natasha.

"Because I'm proposing to Pepper and I want all of you there."

"Why do we need to go out of town?" I ask as I try to get Abbey to eat.

"We are going back to Greece, just trust me." he says.

Steve sits down and starts feeding Abbey since what I'm trying isn't working. "What's happening?"

"We are going to Greece Capsicle." Says Tony.

"You want two toddlers on an airplane for that long?" ask Clint.

"It'll be fine." he says.

"Okay…" I say.

And that is why two days later we are all loading up onto Tony's Jet. I will admit that I did not think it was a good idea at all, especially given the fact that I just found out I was pregnant but Steve and Bruce reassured me that it was fine. Abbey and Tyler are sitting across from Steve and I watching a movie and loving it so that takes care of that, now comes the problem of telling everyone.

"We have to tell them sooner rather than later." whispers Steve.

"I know." I say back. "Dinner?"

"It's up to you."

"So much pressure." I laugh.

"Don't worry about it." He says kissing my head.

Once we land Abbey is beyond cranky and will only let me hold her which poses as a problem because Bruce doesn't want me doing any heavy lifting. He gives me a warning look and I sigh before looking at Steve.

"Help." I say.

"You are making this very difficult B." he says picking her up. She starts crying and I sigh. "Go ahead up I'll handle this." he says.

"I thought it was the terrible two's." I say before walking up to the house.

I go up to our room and set my stuff down and Steve isn't to far behind with Abbey who is still crying. Steve sets her down on the bed next to me and she crawls into my lap still crying.

"My goodness you would think I hadn't seen her in months." I say. "I think she just needs to sleep." I say.

"I don't know where her pack and play is." he sighs.

"Just hand me her blanket and she can sleep on the bed till we find it." He hands it to me and I lay down with her trying to get her to calm down. She quickly falls asleep once I have her laying down but the real trick is trying to get up without waking her up. "Just leave me." I laugh. "I don't want her to wake up."

"Or I could just join you two." he says laying down on the other side of Abbey.

"That works too." I smile. "We can do the beach later." I smile.

"Last time we were here is when we go married." he smiles.

"That is true." I smile back.

The two of us end up falling asleep not too long after Abbey does. When we wake up we get ready for dinner and then head down to the kitchen where everyone else is. I let go of Abbey's hand and she goes to see Thor which I find funny but cute. he picks her up and throws her and she giggles. I go sit down next to Natasha and smile.

"Have a nice nap?" she ask.

"Yup, Not sure what her problem was but obviously she is in a much better mood." I laugh.

"She has quiet the attitude." she laughs as she watches Tyler play with Clint. "You okay?" she ask me.

"Yeah i'm fine." I smile.

"Okay." she smirks.

Dinner is ready a few minutes later. Once everyone is done eating we are all talking and laughing when I look over to Steve. He grabs my hand under the table and nods at me.

"Alright everyone back to reality for two seconds." I laugh. "So Steve and I were going to wait a little longer to tell you guys but we decided now would be a good as time as any…I'm pregnant again." I smile.

"Knew it." smiles Natasha as Tony slides her some money.

"You guys had a bet?" I laugh.

"I was down in the lab when you asked Bruce to come up and you have been acting weird so I figured, no one else believed me." she laughs. "Tony was the only one stupid enough to bet money on it though."

" I just wasn't expecting that." he says sheepishly.

"But excited none the less." says Pepper.

"How long have you known?" ask Wanda.

"A few days and trust me it was really hard to keep it form you guys, especially since last time we all told you immediately." I say.

"Yeah well last time we all thought you were dying." laughs Clint.

"Well Abs enjoy the one on one attention while it last." laughs Sam.

She gets down off of Clint's lap and walks over to Steve who picks her up and kisses her head. "She'll never have to fight for my attention." he smiles.

Once dinner is over we all go to bed pretty quickly. It's going to bed a good week all around for the team, something we haven't had in a while, I'm excited.


	25. Chapter 23

**Hey guys so I have decided that I'm going to be ending this story with this chapter. No warning I know I'm sorry so there will be major time jumps but that's okay because I'm writing a sequel that should be up in the next couple of days. I really hope you guys continue reading my stories, thank you guys so much.**

**Chapter 23**

**Steve's POV**

To say I have been busy would be a massive understatement. On top of keep a close eye on Alex, who is six months pregnant, and trying to take on most of the responsibility with Abbey I have been busy with missions and training. On a rare day off however I spend the majority of the day trying to take care of my girls. Abbey came down with a double ear infection and Alex has been throwing up most of the day. Currently I am making lunch while both of them sleep in our bed. Bruce had to come up not too long ago too give Abbey meds before hooking Alex up to an IV, that's not the first time that's happened this time around either. Thirty minutes later I'm done with lunch and I walk into our room to see both of them dead asleep. I decide to check on Alex first so I gently sit down next to her on her side of the bed and press a kiss to her forehead. It takes her a few seconds but she wakes up.

"How ya feeling?" I ask.

"Not good, if you made lunch forget about it."

"You need to eat something." I say.

"We can try that later." she says grabbing my hand. "Just let Abbey sleep." she whispers.

"Why?"

"I don't want to deal with a cranky toddler right now, just come lay down with me."

"Hate to break it to you but Abbey is taking up the other half of the bed." I smirk.

"Then go put her in her room, she is out like a light."

"I'll be back." I say picking Abbey up. I go put her in her room and then go lay down next to Alex ad rub her back. "I need to finish painting the nursery." I say.

"We need to pick a name." she whispers."Still not naming him after my brother, that can be a middle name."

"Not sure I want to name him after Bucky either, he needs his own name."

"Fine with me." she says.

"You could always name him Tony." says Tony standing in our door way.

"Stark would it kill you to give us a little warning before you come up here?" ask Alex.

"Just checking in…"

"We are not naming him Tony." I say.

"Just a suggestion…You guys need anything?"

"Abbey is asleep and I can't get out of bed so no." says Alex.

"Well Pepper is making dinner tonight if you guys think you want to try and make it down for that." he says.

"We'll see." I say.

"Alright see you guys later." he says walking away.

Alex sighs and moves closer to me. "Less talk more sleep." she says.

"So no lunch?"

"Mention food one more time and I will rip out this IV and go puke again." she mumbles.

"Bruce should be up in another hour to check on you."

"Then let me sleep."

"Go ahead." I say rubbing her back.

Once Alex falls back asleep I slip out of our room and go into the nursery to finish the American Flag I was painting on the wall. When we decide a name I'm going to paint it under the flag but at this rate that might take a while. I stay in there the rest of the afternoon until Abbey wakes up and then I get her a snack before giving her more meds. I pick her up and take her back to Alex and I's room to see Alex in the bathroom putting on make up.

"Where you headed?" I laugh setting Abbey down.

"Figured I would try to look less dead for dinner tonight. Can you hand me my glasses of the nightstand?"

I grab them and hand them to her before setting Abbey down on the counter. "Feeling better?" I ask kissing her head.

"Yup." she smiles at me. "Hows B?"

"Gave her a snack and some more medicine, should make it to bed time no problem."

"Thank you, I know this hasn't been the best day off you've had in a while."

"But I got to spend the day with you two so it wasn't all bad. Also I finished painting everything in the nursery except the name since that has yet to be decided."

"We'll get to it." she smirks. "How bout Blake?"

"Eh, Hale?"

"Not sure about that….Jackson?"

"I like it…let's think about it but for right now I think that may be top of the list."

"It was a lot easier picking Abbey's name." she laughs.

"This is true." I say picking Abbey up. "You ready to go downstairs?"

"Yup."

I shift Abbey before grabbing Alex's hand and we take the elevator down to the common floor. Alex goes and sits across from Tony and I sit next to her.

"Hey four eyes, how ya feeling?"

"Rephrase that." she warns.

"Hello Alex, are you feeling better?" he sighs.

"Yes, thanks for asking, don't call me four eyes again."

"How did Abbey manage that double ear infection?" Ask Jane.

"That would be Tyler's fault." says Natasha sitting down. "He had it last week and since they are always around each other…"

"It's all good, we have her on medicine. She slept most of the day it was fine." I say.

Once dinner is over we head back upstairs and put Abbey to bed before the two of us get into bed. I'm working on some paperwork while Alex reads.

"Do you have to go up to base tomorrow?" she ask putting her book down.

"Not that I know of." I say finishing up. "Why?"

"I wanted you all to myself." she laughs laying her head on my chest.

"I'm all yours." I say kissing her head and laying down.

"I love you." she whispers.

"I love you too." I say before the two of us fall asleep.

**Alex's POV**

After six hours of labour Jackson Dimitri Rodgers was born on March 2nd. I was going to kill Fury, he had just sent Steve out on a mission when I went in to labour. Luckily he was back pretty quick and I'm going to assume that's because I was threatening Fury. Currently Steve is sitting next to me holding him and I'm laying my head on his shoulder. Bruce left to go tell everyone and that gives us a minute alone.

"He looks just like you." says Steve.

"It's only fair since Abbey looks like you." I smile.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great, just tired."

Bruce pops his head in the door and looks at us. "How do you feel about visitors?"

"Send them in quielty." I say. "He is asleep."

"You got it."

The door opens and everyone files in. Abbey starts to wiggle out of Tony's arms and I laugh a little.

"Come set her down next to me." I tell him. He does and I pull her into my lap. "That's your brother Abs." I say as she look curiously at him.

"She doesn't look too sure." laughs Sam.

"She'll warm up to him." smiles Steve.

"Alright, what's his name?" ask Natasha.

"Jackson Dimitri Rodgers." says Steve.

"He is precious." says Pepper.

"Do you want to hold him." I ask her.

"Sure." she smiles.

Steve gets up and hands him to Pepper before coming to sit down by me again. Abbey scoots off my lap and reaches for Wanda who picks her up and goes to stand by Pepper so that Abbey can look at Jackson.

"So no naming him after Barnes?" ask Clint.

"No, we decided he needed his own name." Says Steve.

"It's not Tony but it'll work." Laughs Tony.

"Don't you dare wake him up Stark." I warn.

"I'll try." he smirks.

"Why do Thor and Jane always have to miss this stuff?" ask Darcy.

"Thor has terrible timing." I laugh. "Besides they have a wedding to be back for in a few weeks." I say smiling at Tony and Pepper.

Jackson gets passed around the room before being handed back to me. After making sure everything is okay we get the all clear to go back up to our floor. Steve goes and puts Jackson in his crib while I take Abbey to our room and let her climb in bed with me. Steve walks in and smiles at me.

"What happened to her not sleeping in our bed?" he laughs sitting on the other side.

"I think we can let it slip today." I smirk as I lay down.

"Do you want me to wake you up for dinner?"

"A little before that so I can shower." I say before letting my head hit the pillow.

" I love you." he whispers leaning over to kiss my head.

"I love you too." I smile. "Wake me up if Jackson gets up."

"Okay."

I pull Abbey closer to me and kiss her head. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be happily married with two kids. I never even thought I would make it out of the Red Room but I wouldn't change anything that has happened to me. To know that I have a wonderful family and a husband who loves me is enough for me, and it will always be enough for me.

**And that's the end but don't worry I started working on the sequel today so it should be up in the next few days! thank you guys so much for reading this story, I love how much you all loved it.**


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